Little Red
by ThatBrownEyedIrishGirl
Summary: Olivia Wright had always dreamed of adventure, but was always too self conscious to go out and find it. However, after moving to Beacon Hills, she soon finds that her particular set of skills, the very same skills she kept hidden for fear of ridicule, may just be the one thing her new friends need. Friendships are made, relationships are stirred, and secrets are revealed. Stiles/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Little Red**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC, Olivia Wright and her family.**

**Okie Dokie so, hello! This is my attempt at beginning a proper Teen Wolf story (I usually write Stydia oneshots) and I wanted to start with a Stiles/OC fic because A - I love Stiles, and B - I was inspired by some other great fics on here to try my own hand at it.**

**So, let me know what you think and whether it is worth continuing. Enjoy!**

* * *

_Running. All I seemed to be doing was running. I wasn't thinking, I wasn't breathing, I was just running._

_My entire body felt like it was on fire. The muscles in my legs screamed and felt as though they were tearing themselves apart in order for me to move. But I didn't stop. I couldn't afford to._

_Because stopping meant giving up. And giving up meant death._

_I wasn't sure how I knew that, but there was something inside me that just __**knew.**__ I was running from something, I just wasn't sure what, and I wasn't stupid enough to wait around to find out._

_My lungs were constricting inside my chest, making every intake of breath feel like torture and a dull pain settled in the center of my torso. My knees wobbled and threatened to buckle under my weight. Grabbing a low-hanging tree branch, I used it as leverage and propelled my exhausted body forward._

_I frantically blinked the spots behind my vision away, pleading with my body not to betray me, not now. But no matter how much I begged, and how much my body fought to stay upright, to keep going, I couldn't do anything about my terrible balance, and landed face first in the dirt, snagging my leg on a log._

_I gasped in pain, clutched my throat and froze as I lay on the cold ground in the middle of the woods. I waited for the danger to catch up with me, to finally end the chase, and frowned when nothing happened._

_The woods were completely silent, save for my harsh panting. I wiped the frightened tears from my eyes, and glanced down at the small blood stain forming on my jeans, over the spot where I had obviously scratched myself. _

_Slowly, my breath came back to me, allowing me time to think. If I kept running in the direction I had intended to, I should have reached the main road._

_But there were a lot of things I should have done._

_Shakily, I reached out and gripped the side of a nearby tree, digging my fingernails into the uncomfortable rough bark and using it to steady myself as I climbed to my feet._

_I froze again when I heard a twig snap in the distance, and stepped away from the tree, peering into the dark shadows for any sign of trouble._

_Shaking my head, I decided not to take my chances, and went to turn around to continue my journey to safety._

_Turning around, I came face to face with glowing red eyes, and sharp, shining fangs._

_I barely even had the chance to scream before those same fangs were tearing into my neck._

* * *

My alarm clock began to scream at the same time I flew up in my bed. Breathing heavily, I hurriedly climbed out of bed and stopped in front of the mirror, pulling my messy, dark red curls over to the left side of my neck, my fingertips brushing over the smooth skin of the right.

Closing my eyes, I bent forward and let my forehead press against the cold glass, taking three deep breaths to calm my anxiety. The dream had made me even more nervous, though I told myself that it had only been just that - a dream. I had better things to worry about than my subconscious mind.

Like, the first day of hell. Though, I heard some kids were just calling it 'school' nowadays. It would have been better (not great, but _better_) had I just been going back to my regular high school, seeing my regular friends and rolling my eyes at my regular teachers, but considering the fact I had just moved to a new town the night before, my anxiety was at an all-time high.

I pulled back from the mirror and pursed my lips at my reflection. Clenching my fists and taking another deep breath, I shook my head. I wasn't going to give into my nerves. I was going to get ready, and get through it. That was my new goal for the day - to survive the very first day of my career at Beacon Hills High School. Then I could rush home, get into my pajamas and forget about it.

With a new resolve, I checked the clock to see how much time I had and set to work. I dressed in a pair of black skinny jeans, a loose white blouse and black ankle boots with a small heel, tying my hair up into a ponytail and perfecting my side bangs. For makeup, I kept it light with just mascara, brown eyeshadow and lip gloss. Grabbing my simple shoulder bag, I made sure I had my purse and my phone and with one last look in the mirror, I nodded and made my way downstairs.

I took my time to take in my new house. It was beautiful. A two storey house with plenty of space and fashionable furniture, as well as an expansive backyard complete with a pool. I knew my niece would love that one for sure.

I headed down the stairs and into the kitchen, sending a smile my mother's way. She was already ready for work, dressed in her scrubs with her dark hair tied back in a neat bun. I grabbed a pop tart from the cupboard and stuck it into the toaster, leaning back against the counter.

"You excited for your first day of school?" Mom asked me with a grin, moving around the kitchen and getting her things ready for the day.

"It's school, Mom. Is anyone ever really excited for it?"

"Well you could at least smile."

I rolled my eyes, but gave her a tiny smile as I grabbed the breakfast treat and placed it in my mouth. Then I really smiled. God, I loved poptarts.

"What about you?" I asked,"Excited for work?"

"Would I be a complete nerd if I said yes?" Mom grinned, and then paused,"You're still okay with me going back to work, right?"

Knitting my eyebrows together, I frowned,"Why wouldn't I be?"

"It's just, I haven't worked since you guys were kids, and especially now that Carter is staying on campus here instead of here in the house _here_, you'll be on your own most of the time and -"

"Mom, are you kidding?" I snagged her mug of coffee and gave her a mischievous smirk,"It's perfect. Now I can throw my wild parties complete with illegal drug use and underage drinking."

Mom let out a laugh,"Right, what was I thinking? Just try not to spend all of your time on the computer, okay?"

I pulled a face at her, and got a smug smile in reply.

"Ha! Even mom knows you're a nerd." An amused voice called from the doorway, and I jumped, pressing my hand to my chest before I slugged my older brother's arm.

"Where did you even come from?"

"Well, sis, you see; when a mommy and daddy love each other -"

I reached over and flicked Carter on the forehead,"Not what I meant, dumbass."

Carter laughed, snatching my remaining pop tart from the foil packet and subsequently stuffing it in his mouth. I made a face as he blew crumbs at me, and laughed when my mother smacked him upside the head.

"Stop annoying your sister." She admonished sternly, pointing at the clock,"Now go on, don't make your sister late for her first day."

"Wait, Carter's driving me?" I exclaimed,"I have my own car."

"Yes, but you haven't spent two weeks here prior to moving. Your brother has." My mom reminded me,"It's just for the first day, sweetie, just until you know your way around."

I pouted,"Fine. Come on, big brother. Don't you have classes to get to as well?"

"That's right..." Carter nodded, tossing his keys from one hand to the other,"That means there are hot college girls waiting for me. Chop, chop, baby sis. Can't keep 'em waiting."

I patted his chest as I pushed by him, heading into the hallway,"Hate to break it to you, Carter, but those poor girls would probably be _thankful _if you kept them waiting."

"Why must you wound me?"

* * *

Beacon Hills was what you would expect of a picturesque, small town in California. Beautiful suburbs, a gorgeous park, cute little businesses to match the large ones and more importantly, a huge mall.

All in all, the move from Modesto to Beacon Hills wasn't one I looked at with contempt. So far, Beacon Hills seemed nice, but I wasn't letting the view fool me just yet. I had gotten in around nine the night before, and other than the scenery I was now experiencing, I hadn't been around for long enough to see anything significant. Which was why I turned my head to look at my brother.

"Hey, so what do you think of this place?"

Carter drummed his fingers along the top of the steering wheel, shrugging lightly,"It's okay. The people are cool, but to be honest, I haven't seen much other than the college, the house, Uncle Conrad's place and Jenna's apartment."

I grimaced,"Great..."

"You don't have to be so nervous." Carter told me, looking pointedly at my hands which were fussing with the zipper of my black leather jacket,"I mean, yes, high school - argh! But you'll be fine. You're a good student, and you're... you're not _that _weird."

I narrowed my eyes,"Is this your attempt at a pep talk?"

"I'm failing miserably."

"Oh yeah."

"Well, I tried to do the big brother thing, but meh... look, just don't over think everything you do. Relax a little, these people don't know you. For all they know, you could be a Russian spy."

"Who says I'm not?" I smirked, wriggling my eyebrows. Carter chuckled and then stopped,"Are you?"

"Oh, my gosh. No, you idiot." I laughed, shaking my head as we stopped at a red light. Carter poked his tongue out, grumbling as he messed around with the stereo.

"Oh, shut it... short... person."

I rolled my eyes at his lame shot, letting my head fall back against the headrest and loll to the side so I could look out the window. A car stopped in the lane beside us, a blue jeep of some sorts with black doors. It was actually pretty cool. My eyes traveled up from the door to look at the driver.

The teenage boy looked as though he was around my age, with dark hair cut close to his head, and sharp cheek bones. He ran a hand over his pale face, and I could see him push his tongue against the inside of his flushed cheeks as he tapped his fingers impatiently on the wheel like Carter had done not five minutes ago as he checked his phone. He scrunched his face up and tossed his phone onto the passenger seat, his eyes rising and locking with mine.

I straightened up, realizing I had been staring and tried not to blush in embarrassment. Instead, I gave him a polite smile, and I watched him blow out a quick breath as he smiled back and stilled his jittery fingers long enough to give me a small wave.

"Green means go!" Carter exclaimed happily, pushing the car forward quickly. As the road became smaller as we drew closer to the school, the blue jeep got lost in the crowd as Carter drove around to find a parking spot.

He pulled in fairly close to the school entrance, for which I was thankful and parked the car. I unbuckled myself, but made no move to exit the car.

"Olivia..."

"Yeah?"

"We're here."

"I can see that."

"You gonna get out?"

"Working towards it."

Carter smiled, climbing out of the car. I frowned, watching as he stopped by my side and pulled the door open. He grabbed my hand and tugged me out, despite my protest. Planting me in front of him, he squeezed my shoulders as I pouted up at the building.

"Repeat after me; it's just high school."

I took a deep breath,"It's just high school."

"I may think I'm about to make a complete fool of myself, but that's just my brain being mean and I'll actually be fine."

"I may think I'm about to make a - do I seriously have to repeat all of that?" My shoulders slumped,"I mean, message received."

Carter clapped me on the back and ruffled my hair,"Moral of the story is, you're psyching yourself out, and we've already agreed you wouldn't do that. I mean, come on, what's your biggest fear?"

"That people will realize I am a freak."

"You're not a freak." Carter assured firmly,"You're a self-conscious teenage girl, and this is a high school. You'll fit right in. Besides, if anyone gives you a hard time, just tell them you'll get your big brother after them and that your father was a lawyer."

I giggled, elbowing Carter in the side. I then hugged him,"Thanks."

"You're welcome. Now go, be yourself, and most importantly, don't talk to boys." Carter wagged his finger at me as he jogged over to the driver's side of his car,"I'll pick you up at three-thirty."

"I'll be eagerly anticipating it." I nodded, turning on my heel to go.

"Hey, baby sis!" He called out after me, making me stop and turn around.

"Good luck."

I smiled, waving at him,"I'll see you later."

* * *

My parents had been the people to set everything up with the school, and all that I had been told was that I was to head to the office and get my locker number and schedule, and then when the first bell rang, to head outside and wait for a teacher or someone to come and collect me.

I located the office quickly thanks to the help of a random student who politely gave me directions and gathered my things. I set up my stuff in my locker and grabbed whatever I would need until lunch. My first lesson was English, which I was extremely glad about.

I loved English.

I could feel the inquisitive glances sent my way from the passing students who obviously detected new meat. Shaking my head, I bit the inside of my bottom lip to stop myself from asking if they wanted to take a picture, seeing as it would last longer. Sassing people on the first day wouldn't have been the best move.

I double-checked that I had everything I needed, and shut my locker, putting in my new combination and turning around. The hallway had become a lot more cluttered since I had arrived, and pushing my hair back from my face, I took a deep breath and moved to return outside and wait for the school administrator.

I quickened my pace once the first bell rang, speeding passed the oncoming horde of students and eventually making my way outside. I relished in the feeling of the cool September air on my flushed face and decided to take a seat on a close-by bench.

I placed my bag beside me, and stretched out my legs, inspecting my favorite boots for any imperfections as I twirled the end of my ponytail around my finger.

Soon enough, the outside of the school was completely deserted, and I fought against the uncomfortable feeling of being out in the open by myself. It didn't help that my brain decided to remind me of my nightmare, making me even more paranoid. I absentmindedly let my hand fall from my hair to my neck, reassuring myself that there weren't fang marks on it.

Shaking my head, I took out my phone and noticed I had a message from my older sister, Jenna. She had sent along a picture of my five year old neice, and I smiled at the innocent face of little Lucy. She was clutching her favorite teddy bear, her hair messed up and still in her Winnie the Pooh pajamas. The words accompanying the picture made me giggle.

_Lucy on her first day of school. Hopefully Auntie Via is in a better mood. - Jenna_

I quickly typed back; _I am now. Give her a hug for me! :)_

I heard someone approaching from behind me and glanced over my shoulder to see a shy looking brunette heading in my direction. She stopped beside me.

"Hi, mind if I sit?"

"Go ahead." I smiled, scooting over a bit to give her more space. She gave me an appreciative smile and sat down, running a hand over her angular face.

"Are you new too?" She asked me, and earned a nod in reply. She beamed at me, clapping her hands once together,"Thank God, I hate being the only new girl."

"It's my first time being a new girl." I revealed.

She gave me a sympathetic look,"God, I don't even remember my first time."

"Move around a lot?"

She nodded,"My father's job has him constantly on the move. We got in a little while back. It's the longest I've spent in one place. I'm Allison, by the way. Allison Argent."

I shook her hand,"Olivia Wright."

"So, what about you? What brings you here?"

"My dad was offered the position to teach law at Beacon Hills University, which was like his life long dream, so we moved. It's not all that exciting." I laughed slightly, pushing my fringe back from my eyes.

"So, you've never been here before?"

I nodded,"Once, when I was like, four. My mom was born here, and a couple years back, my uncle moved back from Wisconsin." I explained, ending my sentence with a shrug,"That's pretty much all the family I have here."

"My aunt used to live here too." Allison told me,"But it's my first time."

We relaxed into regular conversation for a few minutes, with her giving me a few appreciated tips on surviving the first day as a new girl, and then moved onto topics such as favorite bands and hobbies. Allison reminded me a lot of my best friend from home, Jessica, a fact which soothed my nerves a great deal. We had been waiting for about fifteen minutes, and were in a fit of laughter when Allison's phone rang.

"Hello? Oh, hey Mom. Yes, I'm fine. Yes, I have everything." Allison glanced at me and rolled her eyes,"I'm waiting for the administrator. No, I'm okay, I'm sitting with Olivia. She's new too. Yes - okay, mom, okay." Allison pulled the phone from her ear,"My mother says hi."

"Hello, Mrs. Argent!" I called back brightly, my tone one of amusement.

Allison put the phone back to her ear,"Yes, I'm a hundred percent sure I have what I need. I'm checking now." She set her bag beside her and began rummaging through it,"See? Everything down to a - oh my God. I forgot a pen. I can't believe this. I brought everything else, _but_ a pen. Mom, no, I don't need you to bring me one, I'll be fine."

I glanced behind us and saw a man walking towards us with a smile on his face. I tapped Allison's shoulder to get her attention and nodded in his general direction. She turned back and zipped up her bag,"Mom, I gotta go. Love you, too. Bye."

"Overprotective mom?" I asked with a laugh.

"More like overbearing." Allison drawled as the administrator reached us, adjusting his blazer and extending his hands in a sort of apologizing motion.

"Sorry I'm late, girls. I was just going over your schedules. It's my understanding that you both have English first, correct?"

Allison and I shared a look and nodded back at him. He smiled,"I'm glad to see you two are getting a long nicely. It's important that you two have a sort of security system between you. Being at a new school is hard, and I bet you're both happy to have someone to relate to."

Allison grinned, looking back at me,"I think we'll be just fine."

"That's an excellent attitude." The man grinned,"And of course, if either of you need anything, the guidance counselor's office is always open. In fact, Ms. Morell is eager to talk to you both." He glanced at his shiny silver wrist watch and clapped his hands together,"Well, if you're ready, we should get going. Wouldn't want to miss your first period."

I pursed my lips, my eyes going wide as my eyebrows rose,"No, I would _never _want that..."

The administrator and Allison both laughed at my comment, and I grumbled quietly, grabbing my stuff and following them back into the school. We walked through the empty halls, with the administrator (whose name I still hadn't caught) asked us polite questions.

"So, where are you girls coming from?"

"San Francisco." Allison answered.

"I hope you're not feeling homesick." He stated with a small smile. Allison smiled back and shook her head.

"Not really. We were barely there for more than a year."

He nodded and glanced back at my silent figure,"And what about you, Miss Wright? Where are you moving from?"

"Not too far from here. I'm from Modesto." I answered politely.

"And this is your first time moving?"

I gave him a nod.

"Well, hopefully, Beacon Hills is the place for you. I'm sure you'll fit right in."

I gave him an appreciative smile as we stopped in front of a classroom. He set his hand on the door handle,"Well, here we are. You girls ready?"

He didn't wait for a reply, instead knocking shortly on the door before pushing it open. The entire class grew quiet, and the teacher (whose name was thankfully printed on the door - **MR. T. RYDELL**) paused mid-letter, setting his chalk down and turning to face us.

"Good morning, Mr. Rydell." The administrator nodded,"Class. We have two new students today." He stepped back and motioned towards us, though he didn't need to. Eyes were on us anyway.

"Class, please meet Allison Argent, and Olivia Wright. Please, make them feel welcome. Girls, if either of you need me, just come find me."

We both nodded and sent him smiles before he walked out and left us standing in the classroom. Mr. Rydell cleared his throat, dusting his hands to get rid of the chalk,"Welcome to Beacon Hills, girls. If you would like to take your seats."

He directed us towards the two empty seats in the back, and we made our way towards them as he followed, holding two pages and setting them down before us after we took our seats.

"This is the outline of coursework for this semester. If you have any questions, feel free to ask."

"Thank you." I replied automatically as he handed me my copy, and was rewarded with a smile. Mr. Rydell immediately returned to teaching, and I was glad he drew the attention from us. I glanced over at Allison, and saw that she was shyly taking a pen from the boy in front of her. She was blushing, and he was giving her this adorable puppy-dog look as he smiled. He looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place him.

"Thanks." I heard her say, her voice just the tiniest bit confused. I shared in her confusion. How had he known she was in need of a pen?

He gave her a nod and another little grin before turning his attention to the front. Allison looked my way, and we both shared puzzled smiles. I mouthed the words _he's cute_ to her, and Allison giggled, shaking her head, her eyes flitting towards the desk in front of me and back. She gave me a smirk, and turned her attention to the front.

I snorted softly and turned to look up front, only to find the boy in front of me was turned around, looking at me with a spark of recognition in his honey-colored eyes.

I instantly remembered him. How could I not? It had only been that morning when I had first seen him. It was the boy from the jeep. His shocked expression gave way to a goofy smile, and he turned back around in his seat quickly as the teacher clapped his hands together.

"Okay, class! How about we refresh our memories from last year by having a mini pop quiz?"

The entire class groaned, and I buried my head in my English book to avoid the boy's face. How was I supposed to know he was my classmate? I groaned softly, trying to rid myself from the unwarranted embarrassing feeling that was creeping up on me. Mr. Rydell chuckled, holding his hands up in surrender.

"Oh, fine. How about we talk about our summers instead? Williams, you start."

* * *

**Okay, there it is! :)**

**I know it wasn't much, but I hope it was good enough. I'm feeling pretty nervous about this story because it's something I have wanted to do for a while.**

**So let me know what you think about anything. Should I continue? Is Olivia someone you could put up with? Ha! **

**Just let me know and put me at ease. **

**- Megan.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Little Red**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Wow! I wasn't expecting responses so fast! Thanks guys. I'm so glad everyone liked the first chapter, and I hope you like the second chapter too! :)**

* * *

After first period, the day began to fly by and before I knew it, it was the last class before lunch.

I had chemistry, and after stopping by my locker briefly, I quickly made my way towards the lab, heading up a flight of stairs and walking through the door just as the warning bell rang.

I ignored the stares from the students I had yet to meet and strode towards the teacher, Mr. Harris. The bespectacled man listened as I introduced myself and nodded slowly before pointing me towards and empty seat beside a strawberry-blonde haired girl. I took my seat, no other words being passed between the two of us from then on. I took it that Mr. Harris wasn't the type to really _care _about his students, or who they were, and rolled my eyes. Boy, he was going to be a _joy_ to have.

I sat down, sending a polite smile to the girl as she glanced at me sideways, her green eyes flitting from her compact mirror to me. I opened up my textbook and grimaced as I read the name of the first chapter. Chemistry wasn't my best subject - I much preferred biology over all other science subjects, but at least I was better at chemistry than I was at physics. Taking that for a year in my old school had been a dark time...

I could sense eyes on me and slowly turned to look at the girl again. She was half-facing me now, her stool turned slightly in my direction, with a hand on her hip and an expression on her face that told me she was making an evaluation. I sighed, glancing up towards the ceiling as I exhaled before looking at her expectantly with an eyebrow raised. Her pursed lips relaxed into a grin and she stuck her hand out.

"Hi! I'm Lydia Martin! You must be Olivia."

I shook her hand, my eyebrows drawing together,"You know my name?"

She laughed as though my question was one from a simple-minded child,"Of course. Everyone knows your name."

A boy stopped at the desk in front of us, grabbed the stool and sat on it facing us,"She's right. You're the new meat, everyone wants to know about you."

My eyes went from the blue-eyed, muscular boy to the other boy who sat down beside him. His dark brown eyes were friendly as he gave me a warm smile and copied the shorter boy's actions by sitting to face us.

"He's not wrong."

Lydia set her hand on my forearm,"Oh, Olivia, this is Jackson, my boyfriend, and his best friend, Danny."

"It's nice to meet you..." I took a look at Jackson's smug grin and frowned,"I think."

"Well, we just wanted to welcome you." Danny shrugged,"Make you feel at home."

My smile was genuine as I nodded at the boy,"Thanks."

"So," Jackson leaned forward, clasping his hands on the desk,"Let's talk about you."

I paled,"About me?"

"Yeah!" Lydia said brightly,"What do you like, what do you do for fun… let's hear it."

"If you have any dark, painful secrets that you would like to share…" Jackson continued, pursing his lips before giving me a teasing grin.

Danny smacked his arm,"Guys, give the girl a break. I'm sure she doesn't want to be dealing with you losers on her first day."

Lydia shot Danny a look whilst Jackson rolled his eyes. I sent Danny a thankful smile, and pulled a notebook from my bag to get ready for the class as I shrugged and laughed softly.

"Sorry guys, no dark, painful secrets in my past. Hate to disappoint. Actually, I'm _really _not interesting."

"You are to us," Danny explained,"Well, not a lot happens in a small town like Beacon Hills. You're big news."

I grimaced,"_Great..._"

"Okay, you had all summer to talk! Whatever _riveting _conversations you idiots are having can wait until _after _class." Mr. Harris called, clapping his hands. I looked around, slightly wide-eyed at Mr. Harris's method of getting attention back to the subject he taught. It worked, however, as everyone who was turned away slowly returned to their seats, even Jackson and Danny.

I leaned into Lydia,"Is Mr. Harris always this -"

"Rude? Annoying? Horrible?" Lydia supplied for me before taking a deep breath and nodding,"Yup, pretty much."

I sucked in my lips, and pulled back, straightening up in my seat. I paid apt attention to Mr. Harris, but struggled to stay interested in his ramblings. Letting my brown eyes roam around the class again, I noticed that I wasn't the only one having trouble. One kid across from me was even asleep, his head down as though he was reading from his text book. I placed a hand over my mouth to stop myself from laughing, cleared my throat and continued my distracted people-watching.

It was about ten minutes into the class before something interesting happened. Just as my eyes returned to the board, I heard a soft click behind me and moved to look over my shoulder. The door at the back of the class had opened. I was just about to put it down as a faulty lock before I caught a flash of movement. I tilted my head, resting it against my fist as I watched the door.

It opened inwards slowly, not even creaking in the slightest. The boy from the red light appeared, poking his face through the gap and his eyes zeroing in on the teacher. He grimaced as he pushed the door open so he could fit his body through and then crouched down, disappearing behind the back desk.

I arched an eyebrow, risking a glance at Mr. Harris. His back was to the class as he wrote on the board, so I craned my neck to view the boy. He edged towards the middle of the class before darting to the lab table behind me.

The two of us winced as he tugged the stool back, both freezing as it made a small screeching noise against the linoleum floor. Nobody seemed to notice, or really care, and in a humorous flash of motion, the boy was sitting with his text book open, his arms folded as though he had been there the entire time.

He caught my gaze and beamed triumphantly, sending me a wink. I smiled at his impressive antics and shook my head.

"Mr. Stilinski!" Mr. Harris called, his chalk pausing against the board, mid-letter,"So nice of you to finally join us. Get lost?"

My eyes widened, my lips parting in shock. Did Mr. Harris have eyes in the back of his head? Was this like my last chemistry teacher, who I had been sure had bat-like hearing?

I expected the same shocked, maybe even frustrated, reaction from the boy, but instead, he just gave Mr. Harris a cheeky grin, at ease with the fact that the whole class was now staring at him.

"Well, it _is _a big school, and I saw something shiny."

"That's funny." Mr. Harris stated, in a tone of voice that let us all know he didn't, in fact, find anything about it humorous,"I bet detention would sound even funnier."

_Mr. Stilinski _pursed his lips, as though he was considering it, and then shook his head, scratching at his chin,"No, no, that doesn't sound that funny. Lacked the punch."

"You have _one _chance, Stilinski. I'll let you off since it's the first day, but one more tardy and you'll be spending your afternoon here." Mr. Harris shook his head, but his look was warning.

"Aw, I knew you secretly liked me."

Mr. Harris paused before staring at Stilinski again,"Are you _looking _for detention?"

"No, no, I'm good. Definitely good."

"Just be quiet, Stilinski."

"I can do that." Stilinski nodded, his eyes dropping to his book before rising to meet with mine. He gave me an innocent grin, before sinking down in his seat and turning his attention to the lesson.

When I finally turned around, I watched as Jackson glared at Stilinski and rolled his eyes before turning back around. Danny, I don't think, had ever even bothered paying attention to the incident, as he was still flipping through the pages of his book. Lydia was busy taking notes beside me, and I decided to do the same. I might as well be productive.

I managed to ease my boredom when Mr. Harris gave each group of four an experiment to conduct. We were paired with Danny and Jackson, and I found myself laughing as Danny and Jackson and bickered, and I worked well with Lydia. I also learned that Lydia was a hell of a lot smarter than she came off as, and I figured Jackson had something to do with her airhead facade. The boy had an ego bigger than Texas.

Still, without her, we probably would have set fire to something.

Danny and I clicked right away too, often sharing eye-rolls as Lydia and Jackson argued over something. Danny told me all about his life, from his parents, to his boyfriend, and I told him about my own family and life at my old school.

By the time we were finished with the experiment, taking the notes and cleaning up our benches, the bell had gone. I hadn't even picked up my bag before Lydia and Jackson were dragging me out by the arms. Danny followed behind us, carrying my backpack as well as his own as we headed for the cafeteria.

Allison was waiting for me inside the door, and we stopped to greet her.

"Oh, my God, that jacket is killer!" Lydia complimented her,"Where did you get it?"

"Uh, my mom was a buyer for a boutique back in San Francisco." Allison replied. Lydia clapped her hands, throwing her arms around both of our shoulders and hugging us.

"You two are my new best friends. It is so hard to find people in this town who actually make good fashion choices."

Allison and I shared a look before laughing. Lydia untangled herself from us and headed over to the table Jackson and Danny had stopped at. It was fairly crowded, but I noticed that Danny had put my backpack in between two chairs beside him for us. I immediately knew that this group was considered the 'popular' group, and momentarily wondered how my friends back home would react to me hanging out with that type. They would probably have dragged my butt back home, thinking the attention had gone to my head.

I wasn't someone meant for the spotlight, and I hadn't forgotten that.

I turned to Allison,"I'm so sorry, I don't even know if you're comfortable sitting with them, but we apparently have no choice."

Allison laughed,"Olivia, it's fine. They seem... nice."

I nodded in understanding,"Yeah, they're a little bit, uh, enthusiastic."

"That's one way of putting it." Allison snorted,"Oh, we're being beckoned."

I turned to see Lydia hurriedly waving us over. The two of us eventually made our way over to join the 'small' group, taking our seats and allowing Lydia to introduce us to nearly the entire lacrosse team.

I raised my hand,"Uh, yeah, that's really cool and all, but I have no idea what lacrosse is."

"Yeah," Allison agreed,"Is that like football?"

Suddenly, all eyes were on us again and I threw my hands up in frustration. Danny caught my gesture and chuckled,"No. Lacrosse is our game of choice here. It's kinda like field hockey, but not."

I snorted,"Gee, can you make that any more vague?"

Jackson smirked, taking a bite out of his shiny green apple as he elaborated,"Football is a joke in Beacon. We've won the state championship three years in a row."

Lydia cooed, reaching over and brushing her hand through Jackson's gelled up hair before giving him a kiss,"Only because the team has the best captain."

"I think the best way for you girls to understand lacrosse is for you to see a game."

Lydia separated from Jackson after hearing Danny's suggestion and clamped her hand down on his arm,"You're right. That's perfect. Lacrosse practice is directly after school, and you two are coming. That way I'll have someone to talk to instead of freezing alone on the bleachers."

"And you two should come to Lydia's party on Friday night." Jackson suggested. Lydia nodded excitedly.

"You guys can make it, right? It's just a couple people from our school getting together. _Please _say you can come?" Lydia bounced in the hard plastic chair, clasping his hands underneath her chin and glancing between us with expectant wide green eyes.

Allison smiled sadly, giving an awkward shrug,"Friday's family night. Sorry."

Lydia pouted,"Boo! Olivia, what about you?"

My mouth dropped open, and then closed. I faltered,"I can't think of any reason I can't go." I sighed, my shoulders slumping,"No reason at all."

"Great! You can come over to my house beforehand and we can get ready together! Oh, and we should totally go shopping. Friday after school, you and I are hitting the mall. Allison, you can come to the mall with us, right?"

Allison's eyes widened and I smirked, knowing that 'family night' had been a cover. Now she had no cover, and we both knew there was no way she was weaseling herself out of shopping.

"Yeah, Allison, you can join us. Can't you?" I asked innocently, hiding my laughter behind my bottle of water. Allison glared at me before nodding reluctantly.

"Yeah, I can make the mall."

Lydia squealed happily before becoming immersed in some gossip with a blonde-haired girl beside her. Allison grabbed my arm and tugged me towards her, grumbling quietly.

"I hate you."

I smirked, tapping the top of her head,"Honey, _please._ Everyone loves me."

* * *

Later on in the day, I shivered slightly as the three of us made our way to the bleachers on the lacrosse field.

Lydia led the way, her strawberry blonde curls bouncing back from her face in the breeze from where they were tucked under her beanie. Allison and I lagged slightly behind, our arms linked as we followed the exuberant girl.

All in all, my first day had been a hit. Making friends this fast wasn't something I had expected. Allison was busy telling me all about her run-ins with Mr. Pen Man.

"I turned around and he was just staring at me." Allison blushed, speaking quietly in order to avoid Lydia's endless questioning. She had already interrogated us about past love lives, only to be disappointed to learn that neither of us had many stories to tell.

"So, what did you do?" I asked, keeping my voice low too as we approached the field. I could already see the players running laps and warming up.

"I smiled at him." Allison answered,"Oh, God, should I have? What if he wasn't staring at me? What if there was a sign or something behind my head and he thought I was just some weird smiley girl."

"Allison, was his smile like the one he gave you this morning?" I asked, giving her a pointed look. Allison bit her bottom lip and grinned.

"Yeah..."

"Then trust me, he wasn't looking at any sign." I drawled, nudging her hip with mine teasingly. Allison giggled, and motioned for me to climb the steps to the bleachers first.

"You think?" She asked, planting herself on the cold metal seat beside me.

My eyes traveled along the players to land on Allison's lover boy, who was looking into the stands at us. I elbowed Allison and nodded towards him,"Oh, I know."

Allison locked eyes with him and I rolled my eyes, smiling and turning to pay attention to Lydia as she explained the rules of the game to me, nodding the entire time to show that I really was listening.

I had to admit, it seemed pretty cool, and considering I had never been one for sports, that was a good sign.

"McCall!" We heard a strong voice call, followed by the ringing of a whistle. We watched Allison's lover boy jog over to the coach, leaving Stilinski by the bench where he took a seat. From where we were, we couldn't hear what they were saying, but a few minutes later, McCall was running up to the goal. Allison bent forward, craning her neck to look at Lydia.

"Hey, Lydia, who is that guy?"

Lydia tilted her head, shaking it slightly,"I don't know. I've never seen him before." Her eyes narrowed in confusion and she frowned at Allison,"Why?"

"'Cause he's her boy toy." I snorted, earning an elbow to the side. Allison rolled her eyes,"Ignore her. He's just in our english class, that's all."

Lydia nodded, and clapped her hands together when she saw Jackson run onto the field. The rest of the players lined up on the field, ready to fire at McCall, with Jackson being around ninth in line. The whistle blew again, and out of nowhere, McCall gripped the side of his helmet, falling to his knees just as the first player launched the ball at him. It bounced squarely off his helmet, earning some laughs. I felt bad for the poor boy, as did Allison, and I could tell there was a small part of Lydia (that wasn't too focused on her boyfriend) that felt for him. It was obviously McCall's first time being center stage - so to speak.

Thankfully, the second player allocated enough time to let McCall get up on his feet and prepare for the next shot. His grip tightened on the lacrosse stick, and just as the next ball came hurtling towards him, he darted at the last second, and caught it in the net.

A hushed silence fell across the field before cheers erupted. I clapped along with everyone else, wondering why everyone seemed so shocked. If he was on the team, then surely he could play. Even Stilinski and McCall himself seemed surprised.

He caught three attempted goals in quick succession, impressing the entire crowd. Though there _was _someone who was far from impressed. I watched as Jackson shoved himself to the front and grimaced.

"Oh, no..." I mumbled under my breath, watching as he tossed the stick in his hands and began running towards the goal. The angry team captain skidded to a halt, and with a powerful throw, he hurled the ball at McCall.

The entire crowd jumped to their feet as Jackson's ball flew straight into McCall's net. Stilinski was cheering wildly for his best friend, and even Lydia had her hands cupped around the sides of her mouth and was yelling happily. Allison caught McCall's eye and was applauding as they shared a googly-eyed gaze.

My eyes moved from an ecstatic Stilinski to Jackson, as he clenched his jaw, his chest heaving with anger.

As he stared at McCall, I could tell it was the beginning of a beautiful fued.

* * *

Carter was waiting for me in the parking lot when the three of us departed from the lacrosse field. I waved goodbye to my friends and climbed in, a smile on my face.

Carter gave me a smirk,"I take it your first day went well."

I nodded, and complied when he held up his hand for a high five. I laughed,"How about you?"

"College is awesome. Scary and intimidating, but awesome." Carter told me, pulling out onto the main road,"Why did you ask me to come later anyway?"

"Lacrosse practice."

"Ah. That's huge here." Carter nodded,"Even the college is into it. Wait, why were _you _there?"

"Because everyone was so shocked that neither Allison - the other new girl - or I knew what it was. And a few of my friends are on the team."

"I thought I told you not to talk to boys." Carter wagged his finger at me,"They only want one thing - your food."

"Not my food!" I gasped dramatically. We shared a look and yelled in unison,"Joey doesn't share food!"

Pulling up by the curb outside my new house, we were laughing, pushing each other back and forth as we approached the front door and entered.

"Auntie Via!" I heard a joyous voice exclaim, and stooped down, catching the little girl in my arms and giving her a tight squeeze.

"Hi, baby!" I cooed, dropping a kiss to my niece's head. Carter folded his arms, pretending to tear up.

"Oh, not so excited to see me though. It's fine, I see how it is."

Lucy giggled and moved away from me to hug Carter. Carter picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder, turning to face me.

"I'll see you later, 'kay? Me and Chuck are heading out for dinner."

I nodded, taking Lucy from him and setting her down,"Have fun on your uber bromantic date."

Carter grabbed my hands in his, clutching them to his chest and putting on a dramatic grin,"I think tonight is the night he'll pop the big question!"

I rolled my eyes at my brother's silly antics and smiled,"Bye."

"Later, loser. Not you, Lucy. You're a princess. I was talking to Olivia."

As soon as Carter left, I bent down so I was eye-level with Lucy,"I don't think Uncle Carter took his meds today, do you?"

Lucy giggled,"I don't think Uncle Carter ever takes his meds."

"He must not." I agreed, laughing. Jenna appeared in the doorway, blowing a loose strand of hair from her face.

"Hey, sis, how was school?"

"Not bad." I replied,"Made some friends, didn't get expelled. All in all, pretty successful."

"At least someone had a good day at school. Middle school kids, Olivia. They're _evil_."

I took a glance at Lucy, who had returned to her coloring table and followed my older sister into the kitchen, dropping my bag and jacket onto the counter.

"They can't be that bad." I scoffed,"They're like, twelve."

Jenna put a hand on her hip, blinking rapidly at me, a stoic expression gracing her features,"One of the boys kept calling me 'Ms. Hot Stuff'."

I burst out laughing, clutching my sides as Jenna whined, hit my shoulder and stalked towards the fridge. I shrugged, extending my arms,"Hey, you're the one complaining that guys are never interested in you."

"I was telling the class about Lucy and he winked and said 'I can get with that'. He's _thirteen_! Maybe you could date him."

"Ew, he's thirteen. That's like, three years."

"I'm twenty-five!" Jenna exclaimed. We both stared at each other, lips pursed, and then burst out laughing again.

My laughter ceased when I noticed Jenna's laptop was on, and on the screen was an article from a local news station. I leaned down to read it, my eyes quickly scanning the contents.

"Hey, what's this all about?"

"Oh, there was a..." Jen glanced into the living room and lowered her voice,"A body found in the woods last night. Sorta."

"Sorta? How do you 'sorta' find a body?"

"They only found half." Jenna whispered,"Two joggers stumbled across her."

"It's always the joggers." I pointed out,"I mean, why do people even jog anymore. '_Hey honey, how was your run_?', '_Oh, it was excellent. I saw the trees, found half a body, stopped at this adorable little cafe_...'"

Jenna smacked my arm, though she was snorting,"Some people actually like physical exercise."

I scrunched up my face,"Ew. So, what do they know?"

"The girl's in her late twenties, but they have no idea what could do something like this. The police are trying to find the other half."

I grimaced,"Bad time to be a cop."

Jenna nodded in agreement,"Hey, you want pizza for dinner?"

"You're staying for dinner?" I asked, opening up a tab on my sister's laptop and logging onto Facebook, answering friend requests.

"Lucy and I are gonna stay until Mom comes home..."

"Seriously? Is Mom still on that? She does realize I'm sixteen and capable of taking care of myself, right?"

"You know how she is. She sees so many kids come into the ER because they've gotten into freak accidents that she worries too much about us."

"I know." I nodded, taking a deep breath and letting it out on a sigh. Jenna patted my back.

"She'll relax once she gets into the swing of things. Then you can have your freedom back." Jenna grabbed a juice box from the fridge and headed out to give it to her daughter.

"Can't wait." I called after her. When she came back in, I gave her a wide smile,"And pizza sounds great."

"Awesome. You want pineapple? Stupid question."

"Fruit doesn't belong on a pizza." I stated stubbornly, straightening up and glancing at my bag that lay on the breakfast counter,"Yuck, I have homework."

Jenna laughed,"You should probably get on that. How are your teachers? Have any bad ones?"

"There is this one teacher - Mr. Harris. He's not mean to me, but, I'm just waiting for it."

"Mr. Harris... Oh yeah, apparently he's not great towards the parents either. Mom's friend, Melissa, was talking about him and boy, did she have some colorful words to say."

"Melissa..." I echoed,"She's the nurse, right? Mom and her were friends from high school, right?"

"That's the one. She was saying that Mr. Harris gives her son and his friend an awful time."

A memory of Melissa's face flashed in my mind, followed by the image of McCall on the field today and I tilted my head,"Hey, what's Melissa's last name?"

"McCall, why?"

"Does she have a son?"

"Yeah. Think his name is Scott. You would have been too young to remember each other. Why?"

I snapped my fingers together, happy at finally putting a name to the face,"Scott! He's in my English class. I didn't see him in chemistry though. Maybe he has Mr. Harris for something else."

Jenna shrugged, and then smirked, raising an eyebrow,"He cute?"

"Don't even think of it." I warned, holding up a finger,"He's got eyes for my friend, Allison. Which reminds me, she might as well know his name." I grabbed for my phone and pulled it from my backpack, typing quickly.

_Lover boy has a name. It's Scott. What should I call you two? Scallison? Acott? _

"Well, is there _any _boy you might be interested in?"

My thoughts turned to Stilinski, but I shook my head. I didn't even know his first name. I hadn't talked to him.

"Nope." I answered truthfully,"Not right now, anyway. We can't all find a man on our first day of school."

"Oh, God, I had just forgotten about Tommy. How am I gonna put up with that for the entire school year?"

I grabbed my backpack, slinging it over my shoulder and heading upstairs to do my homework.

"Don't worry, he's thirteen - he'll have a new crush in like, two days."

As I headed up the stairs, I heard Jenna call after me.

"Well now I'm a little offended."

* * *

Stepping out of my bathroom later on that night, I stifled a yawn behind my palm and switched off the light. I said goodnight to everyone I was texting, and climbed into bed, pulling my laptop up off the end of the bed and setting it on my lap.

The clock read eleven-thirty, but I couldn't sleep just yet. I spent some time on Tumblr, and then eventually found my way onto research sites.

I had always been one for research. I loved finding new things, and then learning everything I possibly could on the subject. I was a walking, talking encyclopedia on random topics. If only those topics had anything to do with what I was learning in school - then I'd be a genius.

I tapped my fingers lightly against the tops of the keyboard letters, convincing myself that reading about urban legends would come in handy. Maybe knowledge of old horror stories, most of them debunked, would have as much use as algebra. Who really needed that anyway?

I read about The Hook Man, The Killer In The Backseat, and countless others before my fatigue finally started catching up on me. I bent forward to shut down my laptop and put it to one side, and accidentally clicked on a side article.

"Oh, shoot!" I pulled back, to make sure I hadn't clicked on a pop-up ad that would give my poor laptop a virus, and paused, reading the article.

_Lycanthropy._

I lay back against the pillows, staring at the title with my eyebrows raised. _Werewolves? Yeah, right..._

I scoffed, shutting down my laptop before snuggling down into the sheets and drawing my knees up to my chest. I lay my head down, and going over the events of the day in my head, I eventually fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.

* * *

**There we go! I know Olivia hasn't met Stiles yet (at least not properly), but I promise, that will be in the next chapter. Until then, I hope you guys were happy with this installment. Let me know what you guys think.**

**Review Replies:**

**Ileana: **I'm so glad you liked the last chapter. I hope you liked this one too! :) Thanks for reviewing!

**FetusPosey3: **I'm certainly hope this story will go down differently than all the others. I always hate when there's an OC story and by the second chapter, the two main characters are in love. I like the slow build, and that's what I intend to do for this story. Your review made me smile, so thank you! :)

**Expression812: **You are so lucky! I love, love, love your name. It's just so pretty.

**Guest: **YAY YAY YAY!

**Always Clear Day: **Thank you so much! :)

**prettyargents: **I'm so glad you like Olivia and her family. Her brother is actually based off someone that I know, so I'm happy that you're happy with him, ha! And no, I didn't really think too much about who Olivia would look like. My best guess would be that she looks sort of like Demi Lovato, but around 5 ft 5 with dark red hair. If you have any ideas, let me know! Thanks for reviewing!

**By the way, if any of you guys have tumblr, come follow me at ThatBrownEyedIrishGirl. tumblr. com. I will answer questions there about the story, and characters! :)**

**See you in a few days with the next chapter! **

**- Megan.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Little Red**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

The next day of school was considerably less nerve-wracking than the first. I got to drive myself to school, and there was a smile on my face as I parked my beloved black, four-door Toyota Yaris by the bike stands.

I cut the engine and unbuckled myself, reaching into the bag to grab my bag and checking my hair and makeup in the mirror before exiting my car.

I headed straight to Allison's locker after stopping at my own as promised, and leaned back against it as I waited for the arrival of the taller girl. The students that passed were less interested in me than they had been the day before, a fact I was incredibly thankful for. It set me at ease, and I found myself absentmindedly smiling, in a better mood than I had been the day before.

Finally, after about ten minutes of waiting and inspecting my nails, Allison bounded towards me, and excited grin on her face. I moved out of the way of her locker so she could get her books and raised an eyebrow as she gave me a secretive but sly smirk.

"Guess what happened to me last night?"

"You broke the caps lock button on your phone?" I supplied teasingly, referencing the text she had sent me at quarter to one in the morning.

"No." She rolled her eyes with a laugh,"_I _talked to Scott."

"What?" My eyes widened and I clapped my hands together,"No way!"

"Yes way," Allison beamed so much that her dimples became public knowledge,"And guess who has a date to Lydia's party on Friday night."

"A date? Okay, seriously, tell me everything." I demanded, clasping my hands against my chest. Allison shut her locker and mirrored my actions by leaning against it.

"Well, I was driving home from the library, and I turned to change the song on my ipod and this dog came out of nowhere. I tried to swerve, but with the rain, I ended up hitting the poor thing."

I gasped, setting a hand over my chest,"Before you go any further, is the dog okay?"

Allison nodded quickly,"She's fine. Just a broken leg."

"Oh, thank God." I breathed,"So, how does Scott fit into this?"

"Well, obviously I brought the dog to the vet, but they were closed. Scott was staying late - he works there - so he took a look at her. He was so sweet. I was hysterical, and he even gave me a spare shirt to change into because I was soaked. The rain was pretty bad last night."

"I heard. I was tucked into bed whilst you were out flirting."

"I wasn't flirting." Allison blushed,"Much."

I laughed, and she continued,"Anyway, he said they would take care of the dog until they found her owner. Then he asked me to Lydia's party."

"And 'family night' really was a cover. Sly..." I nudged her,"I like it. You do realize that this means there is absolutely _no _way that you will get out of shopping on Friday afternoon, right?"

"I know. Lydia will go crazy." Allison grimaced,"Can I ask you a favor?"

"Go for it." I nodded as we began walking towards our first class, which happened to be French.

"Could you come over after school on Friday, before you go to Lydia's, and help me get ready? It's my first date and I just really want to look nice."

I smiled, wrapped my arm around her shoulder and gave it a squeeze,"Don't worry. Olivia's got you covered."

* * *

Lydia seemed torn between wanting to help Allison get ready for her first date and setting up for her party, but with a glance at me, she had decided to leave Allison in my hands, deeming me more than capable. I found pride in the fact that Lydia trusted me with making our friend look good, considering she was the most fashion conscious person I had ever met.

I promised the strawberry-blonde that as soon as I was finished with Allison, I would be over at her house, letting her use me as her own personal dress-up doll and helping her with the set-up.

Our conversation and plan-making had me realizing that the three of us had easily become fast friends, a fact I took comfort in. The more time I spent in Beacon Hills, the more I became glad that my father had taken the job offered to him.

I finished lacing up my sneakers, tightening my ponytail before making my way into the gym to join the rest of my class. I immediately located Jackson and Danny, and planted myself beside them, becoming easily immersed in the current conversation.

As Coach Finstock yelled at Greenberg, I raised an eyebrow, leaning into Jackson.

"So, why does Coach hate Greenberg so much?"

Jackson smirked, giving a shrug as a reply,"Nobody really knows. I don't even think Coach knows."

I grimaced as Coach blew his whistle right behind me, reaching up to massage behind my ear as he pushed his way between Jackson and I to address the class. As he called out our names to check attendance, I let my eyes roam across the other students.

My eyes found Scott and Stilinski pretty quickly, watching the two boys as they whispered quickly back and forth. Scott had a huge grin on his face as he excitedly told Stilinski something, whilst the slightly taller and paler boy seemed troubled. I narrowed my eyes, tilting my head in silent wonder before Coach Finstock blocked my line of sight as he began separating us into two groups.

He went along the line giving people numbers (either one or two) and then told the ones to join in the far corner of the gym, whilst the twos stayed where they were. Because I was between Danny and Jackson, they were paired together and both gave me smiles as they walked away, leaving me with the other twos.

Somebody approached me and I looked up to see Scott.

"Hey." He greeted as he stopped by my side,"Guess we're team-mates."

"Guess so." I nodded, noticing how Stilinski gave us another worried glance before following after Jackson and Danny with a not-so-happy look on his face.

"I'm Scott."

"Olivia." I smiled politely, turning my attention to him. Scott seemed to be searching for something in my face, and finally, he asked the question floating across his mind.

"Have I met you before?"

I chortled slightly, giving him another nod,"Our mothers are best friends. Apparently we met when we were kids. I don't remember either, don't worry."

"I knew you were familiar." Scott snapped his fingers,"I just couldn't figure out why. Wow, just like old times, huh?"

"Apparently." I grinned wryly,"So, Allison told me all about last night..."

Scott flushed, which was adorable, and scratched the back of his neck,"She did, huh?" Suddenly, his face dropped,"She doesn't think I was creepy, does she? I mean, we had only just met and I asked her out -"

"Scott. Scott! Breathe, okay?" I instructed, my tone soft but amused,"She's really excited. You're fine."

"Okay, good."

I opened my mouth to say something, but before I could speak, Scott was pushing me to one side and in a flash of motion, his hand flew out to catch the ball that came flying at the back of my head.

He slowly removed the hand that had wrapped around my arm, as I stood there with my mouth hanging open. I snapped it shut, laughing a bit as I ran a hand through my hair.

"Good catch." I nodded, impressed as I took in the staring and slightly shocked faces of our classmates. Once again, I noticed Stilinski looking at us, shaking his head softly. I frowned slightly, but plastered on a smile as Scott gave me a wide smile of his own before tossing the ball back to the teenage boy who had mistakenly tossed it our way.

"Sorry!" The sheepish boy called out as he caught it. I gave him a shrug and a grin that told him I was fine before turning to Scott.

"That was... impressive. Crazy, but impressive."

"I don't know how I did it." Scott shrugged,"Must just be my reflexes."

"Well thanks for saving me the bump."

"No problem." Scott smiled,"Anything for an old friend, right?"

I laughed, and soon after, the shrill sound of Coach's whistle drew our attention back to the topic at hand.

We were playing a game in gym class that day.

_Dodgeball._

* * *

I spent lunch with the lacrosse team again that day, with Jackson and Danny complaining that I hit them too hard with the rubber red balls. I laughed, and told them to quit being babies before Lydia, Allison and I dived into the topic of shopping and preparations of the party.

After lunch, I had a free period and wound up in the library. I wound up in the mythology section, eagerly looking through the array of books for something that would interest me for the hour.

The library at Beacon Hills High was so much cooler than the library at my old school. My inner nerd jumped and flailed with glee as I browsed through everything from Japanese mythology to Greek mythology. I located a book on the titans, but the only downside was that it was on the top shelf. I had worn flats to school that day, which meant I rested at my natural height of 5 foot 5, and seeing as the stacks were considerably higher than me, I couldn't grab my chosen book.

I rocked back and forth on my heels, a pout on my lips before I lunged up on my tip-toes and tried to grab the edge of the book. I stood back, the pout becoming deeper on my face as I huffed in defeat.

Suddenly, a hand shot into view and I watched as it easily plucked the book from the top shelf and held it out for me. My eyes trailed from the book, to the arm, and finally to the face of my friendly helper and my mouth opened and closed before I took the book from him.

"Thanks." I gave him a polite, if not embarrassed, smile as I tapped my fingertips along the spine of the book.

"No problem." He smiled back, taking a look at the title,"The Titans? Was there a history assignment I wasn't listening out for?"

"Uh, no. I'm just... I'm a nerd."

He chuckled,"It's not nerdy. You like mythology. We all have our things."

I blushed, my eyes finding the titles of the books he held,"I take it your thing is lycanthropy?"

He gaped, almost as though it was supposed to be a secret that he was reading up on werewolves. He rubbed at his chin.

"Uh, sorta. You, uh, you wouldn't be an expert on that too, would you?"

"Well," I began,"I wouldn't call myself an _expert _but... I know a bit."

"Think you could give me a hand? I'm not really sure what I'm looking for here."

I smiled, nodding slowly,"Sure. What's it for, anyway?"

"A paper. For... biology." I raised an eyebrow, and he continued,"Which you're in... with me... it's uh, it's extra credit."

I shrugged,"Okay, well come on, let's take a look."

Stilinski followed me to an empty table away from everyone else and surprised me by darting in front of me to pull my chair out. I smiled and sat down, letting my bag rest against the leg of the table as he set the books he had collected out in front of us.

I didn't bother grabbing for any of them just yet, and instead turned towards him,"What do you know about werewolves?"

"Well, they're people who turn into wolves, right?"

I nodded.

"That's pretty much it."

I laughed softly, making him chuckle and grabbed for the first book,"Okay, well... in fiction, and by definition, a werewolf is a person who changes for periods of time into a wolf, typically when there is a full moon. That, however, is not necessarily true. You see, different cultures have different legends..."

As I went on teaching the honey-eyed boy all I knew on the topic of werewolves, I was surprised to find that he paid attention to every single word I had to say. Every so often, we'd stray from the topic just a bit and end up in fits of laughter that were quietened by the harsh glare of the middle-aged librarian. I made a note of which chapters of which books he would find what he was looking for in, and handed the folded note to him just as the bell rang.

I gathered up my things, and made my way up to the counter to check out my book on The Titans, slinging my bag over my shoulder.

Just as I stepped away from the table, I heard him call out after me.

"Hey! I never got your name!"

I turned, a smile on my face,"Olivia."

"I'm Stiles." He called back, an endearing lopsided grin on softly freckled face.

"Well, Stiles, I hope you find what you're looking for. I'll see you around."

* * *

And I did see him around. Lydia dragged me by the wrist towards the lacrosse field where we met Allison.

Scott was down on the field, fiddling with his lacrosse stick as he rested on the bench. He turned when we all arrived, giving Allison a wave which she returned, and smiling at me.

Scott caught sight of Jackson approaching us and frowned, shaking his head as he turned his attention back to his task at hand. I noticed Jackson giving him a warning glare as he approached us, greeting Lydia with a kiss and stopping to talk to us for a while.

"So, are you nervous about the first big game?" Allison asked him conversationally, and I tuned out as Jackson began his bragging explanation of why he wasn't worried about losing.

I locked eyes with Danny, who poked his tongue out at me. I pulled a face in reply, sharing a laugh with the boy before watching Stiles run up to Scott. Suddenly, they had switched roles from gym class, with Stiles being the excited one, and Scott being the one who looked troubled. I watched as Scott rushed off towards the field as Coach Finstock blew his favorite whistle, and saw how Stiles's shoulders sagged as he watched his friend walk away. He flopped onto the bench, and I turned back to say good luck to Jackson as he made like Scott and hurried onto the field.

I turned back and caught Stiles's eye. I gave him a sympathetic smile and he smiled back before rounding back to watch the oncoming practice.

As soon as Coach Finstock declared that this would be the practice that decided who made first line (which Jackson explained was important), the pressure was so clearly on the players. As soon as the first whistle sounded, everyone was moving.

My mind caught up in time to see Scott catch the ball. People were already cheering, and I absentmindedly clapped as I watched the boy zig-zagged through the other guys before being roughly shoved to the ground by Jackson. I heard Allison gasp beside me and sighed, shaking my head at Jackson's behavior. There was no need for the move he had made. He was already on first line, he was the captain, that wouldn't change. His attack had been purely for the satisfaction of knocking McCall down a peg, Jackson's smirk made that clear.

Scott stood up and the two teenage boys engaged in a classic face off before the second whistle blew, and Scott was moving before anyone could react. He had the ball again, and I found myself becoming more and more excited as he easily dodged the oncoming defenders, and even executed a perfect flip over the heads of three conspiring players. My mouth fell open, before I was up and cheering with the rest of the crowd as Scott shot the ball right between the legs of the goalie, watching it hit the net of the goal post.

As soon as the applause died down, Coach Finstock was calling out, his voice loud and clear.

"McCall, what was that?!"

Scott shrugged, extending his arms in frustration as he and everyone else tried to understand how he could possibly be in trouble.

"I scored."

"I know, which is exactly why I'm promoting you!" Coach exclaimed happily,"Congratulations, McCall, you just made first line!"

The spectators erupted in noise, and Allison turned to face me as we both jumped and squealed. Lydia even joined in on the happiness, though she quickly scowled in Scott's direction as Jackson turned to look at us. Allison noticed his glare, and continued to clap, but turned down the volume of her cheering to appease the blue-eyed boy's wounded ego, though I raised a challenging eyebrow in his direction, watching as his jaw clenched.

I didn't understand his sudden hatred of Scott. As far as I knew, he hadn't done anything to hurt Jackson. But I reminded myself that technically, Jackson was my friend too, so I rolled my eyes and halted my clapping.

I wasn't the only who wasn't clapping, I noticed. Stiles was rubbing at his jaw again, that troubled expression from that morning gracing his features once more.

I found it strange that he wasn't as happy for his friend as Scott was for himself, but shook it off as the game continued.

* * *

The rest of the week pretty much flew by. As the summer pretty much disappeared into the back of everyone's minds, assignments and first tests of the semester became very much a reality, meaning I was crammed with homework for a good while.

I spent most of my school time with Allison, Lydia, Jackson and the lacrosse team, only really talking to Scott and Stiles a handful of times - usually before and after the classes we shared together. I spent a while with Danny too, even going out after school with him for coffee one day to hang out with him and his boyfriend, Joshua.

The time I spent not studying or hanging out with friends was focused on spending time with my family. I ended up at Carter's dorm room on Wednesday afternoon after being with Danny and Josh, and ordering pizza with him and his roommate, Chuck. Those two were getting on like a house on fire, and Thursday afternoon was spent with my uncle, Conrad, before I went to Jenna's apartment to spend Thursday night babysitting Lucy.

"So, any idea what time you'll be home tonight?" My mother asked as I climbed into the back of Lydia's car. I let Allison sit up front, seeing as I would fit more comfortably than she would in the backseat. The plan was for us to go shopping, and then for Lydia to drop Allison and I at Allison's house where we would do our homework and then I would get Allison ready. Then, at seven-thirty, Lydia would pick me up and drive me to hers where we would get dressed and add the finishing touches to the party before everyone arrived.

"Probably late." I answered honestly,"I'll catch a ride home from Lydia, or Danny, or someone."

"Honey, your father can just collect you. Just promise me you'll be careful."

"Promise. Bye, I'll talk to you later."

"Bye, honey. Have fun. I love you."

"Love you, too. Okay, bye." I hung up and slipped my phone into my bag, before leaning into the front and turning up the music.

We arrived at the mall pretty soon after school and must have visited nearly every store in the space of two hours. Lydia made us promise to go on a longer shopping spree soon, but since we were limited in terms of time, we only made sure to get the essentials.

We each shopped for each other. I was tasked with Lydia's outfit, whilst she shopped for Allison, and Allison shopped for me. For Lydia, I chose a gorgeous light green dress that came to mid-thigh. The top part of the dress had small leaves sown into it with a darker green thread, whilst the end of the dress flowed out. The dress brought out her eyes and complimented her hair, and the thin beige belt and matching pumps went perfectly with the dress.

Lydia chose purple skinny jeans for Allison, complete with a white blouse, black blazer and black ankle boots. She picked a chunky silver bracelet to go with it, and a small chain that matched the bracelet.

The dress Allison picked out was lovely. It was one-shouldered dress that came to mid-thigh like Lydia's. The top part of the dress was a beautiful cream color, whilst the skirt part was a dark blue, almost navy. The waist was decorated with gold beads, and the dark blue pumps matched it wonderfully. Allison also threw in a long-sleeved cream cardigan.

Lydia packed my bag and hers into the trunk of her car, whilst Allison kept hers on her lap.

Allison and I waved goodbye to Lydia as she drove off before Allison led me towards her house. The place was beautiful, and the inside was even prettier. As soon as we stepped inside, a woman with short hair approached us, a smile on her face.

"Hey, honey. How was school?"

"Fine. Mom, this is Olivia Wright. Olivia, this is my mother."

I shook her hand politely,"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Argent."

"Oh, sweetheart, please, call me Victoria."

Allison smiled,"Mom, where's Dad?"

"At work, but he'll be home in a little while. He can't wait to meet Allison's new best friend that we've heard so much about. Olivia, are you staying for dinner?"

"Uh, that would be great, thank you."

"Perfect." Victoria smiled at me,"It's already cooking. Why don't you girls go on upstairs and I'll call you when it's ready."

"Thanks, mom!" Allison called, before grabbing my wrist and tugging me upstairs. We headed into her bedroom, with Allison using her leg to push a cardboard box away from her bed,"Sorry about the mess. I haven't really gotten around to unpacking yet."

"Allison, if you think this is messy, you should see my room." I laughed,"It's fine."

Allison laughed too, and the two of us got set up on her bed. Neither of us had much homework, and the little bit that we did have was done over discussing her imminent date with one Scott McCall.

"I have never been more excited for something in my entire life." She beamed, rolling around onto her back.

"I can tell." I giggled,"You haven't stopped smiling all day. I was beginning to get worried your face had gotten stuck."

Allison shot me a look and I snorted,"Clearly it hasn't."

Allison laughed and nudged me with her elbow,"Promise that if I make a complete fool of myself, or if something goes horribly wrong that you will intervene."

"Allison, nothing is going to go wrong."

"I know, but just in case." Allison looked at me with puppy-dog brown eyes and I rolled my eyes and relented.

"Okay. I won't need to, but okay."

"Thank you!" Allison exclaimed, pulling me into a side hug, before looking down at her textbook,"I think I'm finished."

"Me too." I nodded, closing my book and tossing it into my bag. Just as I zipped it up, there was a knock on the door and a tall man made his way into the room. His blue eyes were kind as he smiled at me.

"Girls, dinner is ready. Olivia, it's nice to finally meet you. I'm Allison's father."

"Hi, Mr. Argent." I greeted, shaking his hand,"It's nice to meet you too."

"So polite." He beamed,"You don't see that much nowadays. Allison has told us so much about you. Thank you for making Allison's transition easier for her."

"Well, I'm not the only saint here." I joked,"Allison made the experience of a new school easier for me too."

"Two peas in a pod." Allison interjected, laughing as she threw an arm around my shoulder.

Mr. Argent chuckled,"I'm sure. Well, whenever you two are ready."

Dinner with the Argents wasn't half as awkward as I expected. I actually found that I got along quite well with her father, and her mother was polite and welcoming. I spent most of the time answering questions about myself, and paid apt attention to the stories they told me.

After dinner, I helped clean up before Mrs. Argent banished us from the kitchen and we headed upstairs to get Allison ready. She changed into the clothes Lydia had picked for her, and let me take control of her makeup and hair. I went light with the makeup, just really adding lipgloss, mascara and eyeshadow, and curled her hair. I slipped a black hairband onto the front of her head to keep her fringe back and before we knew it, she was ready.

Surveying herself in the mirror, she turned and gave me a hug as I got ready to leave and meet Lydia outside,"Thank you! I'll see you later tonight."

"You're welcome. Good luck."

* * *

Once I stepped into the Martin house, any decision I was free to make was taken away from me. Lydia immediately dragged me upstairs to get me ready. She gasped, looking like a proud mother when I emerged from her bathroom in my dress and heels before demanding that I sit at her vanity straight away so she could do my makeup and hair.

She put a shimmering white eyeshadow as a base before gently dabbing a dark blue color over my eyelids, making sure she didn't use too much so that the base was still partially visible. She curled my eyelashes and decided against using any eyeliner before painting my lips with a rosy pink colour. She held off on the blush, instead choosing to let my natural rosy pink blush shine through.

She brushed my fringe down to the front of my face before parting it, twisting both sides back and clipping them to the side of my head before curling the ends of my hair and brushing those curls out so they were softer and more loose before she tried to suffocate me with hairspray.

I coughed and spluttered and I could see she was trying not to laugh as she squeaked out an apology.

Once I was done, she sent me downstairs with clear instructions to make sure everything was perfect. I was free to change some things around, but didn't find much I had to rearrange. Mainly, I just moved the food table away from the stereo system, deciding that a large bowl of bunch beside electricity wouldn't fare well amongst drunken teenagers. It seemed that both Lydia and I were perfectionists, and as I looked around, I made a mental note to commend her on her job well done.

As soon as the doorbell rang around nine, Lydia popped her head out from upstairs and told me she would be ready in a minute. Apparently she had had a bit of a makeup mishap, and left me in charge of greeting guests.

Thankfully, the first person to arrive was Jackson, and I let him do most of the introductions and welcoming as more and more guests began to arrive.

By the time Danny managed to pull me out to the back where everyone was dancing, the house was crowded and Lydia was busy entertaining her guests.

I spent more time than I was comfortable with on the dance floor, but enjoyed it none the less. Danny and a few other lacrosse guys managed to get a good amount of dances out of me, even Jackson himself demanded one dance, none of them slow, thank the spirits.

I noticed Allison and Scott arriving as I managed to pull myself away, heading inside to get a drink for myself, and waved excitedly at them.

"Hey, you two!"

Allison hugged me,"You look amazing."

"Can't take credit. Lydia did all the work. Hey, Scott."

"Hey."

"Help yourself to food and stuff." I motioned towards the table,"Just... be wary, I have no idea what's in the punch anymore."

They laughed before making their way outside to dance. Allison shot me a grin over her shoulder and I gave her a thumbs up before grabbing a West Coast Cooler from the table and taking a swig.

What? I wasn't completely innocent.

"Hey! There she is!" I heard someone call from behind me and turned to see Stiles amongst a group of our classmates that I didn't know too well.

"Hey!" I smiled, joining up with them,"You guys having fun?"

"So much." One girl gushed. I recalled her name being Sarah and gave her a smile.

"Awesome. I love your dress." I complimented, admiring the purple fabric.

"Thank you!"

After that, the entire group seemed to accept me and conversation began flowing easily. As the song changed outside, I gasped,"Oh, my God, I love this song!"

Katy Perry's 'Last Friday Night' began blaring through house. Nearly everyone was either dancing or singing along, and the girls of the group and I were dancing in place, laughing the entire time. Even some of the guys joined in, and when I noticed Stiles chuckling quietly in the corner and I slipped up beside him, grabbed his arms and began moving them back and forth to make him dance.

He laughed, allowing me to move him around like a doll as I jumped up and down excitedly. He raised an eyebrow at the empty bottle of West Coast Cooler I had set down, shouting over the music.

"Are you drunk already?"

"No!" I laughed,"I swear."

"Prove it. Do this." Stiles stepped back and brought his right knee up to his chest, resting his left elbow on it and touching his nose.

"In these heels? Are you crazy?" I giggled, but copied his movements. I didn't even stumble.

"See? Perfectly fine - oh!"

I was knocked forward, and out of instinct, Stiles wrapped his arms around my waist to keep me upright as we both turned to look at who had bumped into me.

"Sorry." Scott mumbled incoherently, gasping and pushing through the crowd. Stiles let go of me and grabbed his best friend's arm.

"Scott, man, are you all right?" Stiles asked him. I reached out and placed my hand on Scott's shoulder before placing the back of my hand against his cheek.

"You're burning up."

Scott shrugged us both off, making his way through the crowd and out the front door. Stiles wasted no time in going after them, whilst Allison caught up with me.

"I don't know what happened. We were dancing and then he just... did I do something?"

"I don't think so." I frowned, heading for the door. I turned back to Allison,"You coming?"

Allison nodded and hurried after me. We ran down the steps, looking around for the two boys. We saw Scott climb into his car, and speed off down the street. A few seconds later, I saw Stiles's jeep zoom off after him.

"Allison, Olivia." We heard a voice call from behind us, and turned around, expressions of confusion still etched on our faces.

A man stepped out from the shadows. His black hair was spiked up, his light eyes seeming friendly but the smile on his face sent a shiver up my spine. His hands were buried in the pockets of his leather jacket, and I eyed him warily. Allison was still more confused than anything.

"I'm a friend of Scott's." He continued,"My name is Derek."

"Well, _Derek_..." I echoed,"Any idea why Scott just freaked out and ran?"

"He gets like that sometimes." Derek shrugged easily,"He was feeling sick yesterday. Must be a bug or something."

"Must be..." I repeated, narrowing my eyes suspiciously. Derek seemed to notice my caution, and looked as though he found it amusing rather than offensive.

"Well, he asked me to make sure you get home okay." Derek said to Allison. Allison glanced at me and I raised an eyebrow to ask if she was seriously considering going with this strange guy. Allison took a deep breath and shook her head.

"Okay, but Scott was Olivia's ride too, so..."

My eyes widened and Allison shot me an apologetic look. I faced Derek again and nodded assertively.

"That's true."

"I can drop you home too, Olivia." Derek smiled,"It would be my pleasure. My car is this way."

Derek walked off ahead of us, and Allison rounded on me.

"I'm so sorry. I don't know why I said that."

"It's fine." I assured her,"I wouldn't have let you go alone anyway."

"But my house is closer than yours. I don't want to leave _you _alone with that guy."

"I can handle myself." I nodded. I reached into my purse and pulled out my house keys, positioning the sharp tip in between my fingers and scrunching my hand in a fist. I turned her away from Derek's back and held up my hand to show her.

"See? Instant weapon."

"How did you even think of that?"

I shrugged,"Eh, my brother taught me a few defense mechanisms. Now, let's go."

Allison nodded, linking her arm with mine and pulling me in the direction Derek had gone.

* * *

The ride to Allison's was filled with Derek trying to explain why Scott had taken off.

I could tell that Allison was still confused and hurt by her date's abrupt exit, and gave her a sympathetic smile as she exited the car.

She pointed her finger at me,"Text me the minute you get home." She sent Derek a warning look before addressing me again,"If you don't, I'm calling the police."

I nodded, noticing how Derek bowed his head to try and hide his smirk,"I will. Night, Allison."

"Night, Olivia." She gave me a wave and disappeared into her house. Derek revved the engine of his sleek black car and reversed out of the driveway, and in a second, Allison's house disappeared in the distance and we were on the road again.

* * *

**Yay! Chapter 3! And Derek has made an appearance! I hope you guys enjoyed this! I spent most of my night writing it, and I really hope I did well.**

**I can't wait to hear your thoughts. Reading reviews literally makes me so happy, and I'm going to need happy because tomorrow is my first (non-official) day back at school, so... please review and cheer me up, ha!**

**The next chapter will be up in a few days! :)**

**- Megan**


	4. Chapter 4

**Little Red**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

The ride to my house was exactly like the ride to Allison's. Painfully silent, and filled with tension. Mainly, the tension radiated from me, as Derek still had that infuriating smirk on his face.

My heart was crashing against my chest as I shifted uncomfortably in the seat, feeling the now warm metal of my house key in between my middle fingers and brushing my thumb along the sharp tip. Soft music was playing from the radio, though the volume was too low for me to make out any distinguishable lyrics.

I remained silent, only really speaking to give Derek directions every so often. Other than that, I kept my eyes straight ahead, keeping an eye on him out of the corner of my eye.

"You don't have to be afraid of me, Olivia." He spoke suddenly, turning to look at me,"I'm not going to hurt you."

"No offense, Derek, but you're mysterious stranger guy. I know nothing about you." I folded my arms over my chest and gave him an insouciant one-shouldered shrug,"You could be a serial killer with a body in the trunk for all I knew."

Derek arched an eyebrow,"Then why did you get into a car with me?"

"Uh, duh! Because I wasn't about to let my best friend go with you alone."

Derek frowned, then shook his head and turned his attention back to the road,"You're right, you know nothing about me."

"Nope."

"And I know nothing about you."

"Nope."

"So," Derek began, switching off the radio,"Let's get to know each other."

I eyed him warily, my eyes narrowed in suspicion as he moved, adjusting his position so he could still easily see the road, but he could look at me too. My arms remained folded as I raised an eyebrow. He gave me a smile.

"Hi, I'm Derek."

I rolled my eyes and reached over to shake his hand,"Hi, Derek, I'm Olivia, and this is really weird!" I couldn't help but laugh as I pulled my hand back, straightening up in my seat.

"Well, Olivia, it's nice to meet you, and I promise, I don't have a body in the trunk. If you want, you can even check."

I smiled, shaking my head,"I'll take your word for it."

The rest of the drive was a lot more entertaining. Derek and I talked about many things, from school, to hobbies, and by the time we pulled up outside my house, we were both in a fit of laughter.

I reached down to grab my bag and sat up, grinning as I turned to him to make a witty remark, only to pause. Derek was staring straight ahead, his face void of emotion bar the slight furrow of his eyebrows. I sat up and followed his line of sight to see the powder blue jeep parked behind my Yaris.

Stiles.

The door of the jeep opened, and Stiles hopped out, still dressed in the clothes he wore to the party. His cheeks were slightly flushed, but his jaw was clenched, his tongue no doubt pressed against the inside of his cheek, and his eyes were solely trained on Derek. I gathered my bag and cardigan and climbed out of Derek's car just as Stiles stopped by my door. I let the door close behind me, giving Stiles a confused smile.

"Hey! What are you doing here?"

Stiles's eyes finally left Derek to lower onto me, and his stance relaxed,"Scott wanted me to check on Allison, and she told me Derek had brought you both home. I wanted to make sure you got home okay."

"Of course I did." I shrugged, glancing towards Derek who had gotten out of his car to stand on my other side,"Why wouldn't I have?"

Stiles opened his mouth and faltered, closing it again. I heard the sound of a door opening and closing, and looked up to watch Derek plant himself on my other side, his hands in his pockets casually, but his face stoic as he stared at Stiles, nodding in greeting.

"Stiles, how is Scott?"

Stiles swallowed, his jaw clenching again,"He was fine, last time I saw him."

I watched Derek narrow his eyes, and then nod, his eyes landing on me,"It was nice meeting you, Olivia."

"You too," I smiled politely,"Thanks for the ride."

"My pleasure." He smirked, his gaze flitting from Stiles and back to me deliberately,"I'll see you around."

I felt Stiles tense beside me, and glanced from him to Derek again as Derek climbed back into his car, and took off down the road without a second glance. Shaking my head, I began moving in the direction of my house.

"Wanna come in?" I asked, knowing he was following me up to the front door. He climbed the porch steps after me, shaking his head softly, rubbing at the back of his neck as I unlocked the front door.

"Nah, I should - I should get back to Scott."

"Okay. Tell him I said get well soon."

"I will."

"And thanks for checking up on me. You didn't have to." I smiled, leaning my head against the side of the front door,"I'll see you Monday."

"Yeah, right, school. Hey, uh, Olivia?"

I turned back, holding the front door open and glancing back into the house absentmindedly,"Yeah?"

"Listen, about Derek -"

"He's not actually your friend, is he?" I interjected, earning a nod.

"He's... just be careful."

I could feel that Stiles didn't want to talk about it, and to be honest, a strong part of me didn't want to know. I was tired, and it was late, so I just nodded.

"Okay. I will." I smiled tiredly,"Goodnight, Stiles."

"Night, Olivia." His grin was goofy, and I watched until he got back into his Jeep and waved as he drove off in the opposite direction of Derek, probably on the way to Scott's.

I closed the front door and locked it, switching off the porch light and heading upstairs. I could hear movement coming from my father's office and poked my head through the door,"Hey, I'm home."

My father glanced up at me, a smile on his face. He took off his glasses and let them hang against his blue, striped button up from the chain as he tore his eyes away from his laptop. The room was only illuminated by the lamp in the corner and the light from his laptop.

"Hi, sweetheart. Did you have fun?"

"Yeah, it was great." I nodded, as he stood up and headed towards me.

"I'm glad. I'm gonna make some coffee - grading papers is tiresome work, I tell you - do you want some?"

"No." I declined as he walked by me into the hallway,"I'm pretty beat so I'm just gonna sleep. Where's Mom?"

"In bed. She had a headache so I told her I'd wait up for you instead. Hey, could you grab me my textbook?"

I nodded and walked towards his desk, my eyes scanning the mountains of assignments that were stacked there in search of any kind of textbook. My eyes trailed to the screen of his laptop idly, and I paused. It was an article about the body found in the woods, and I shook my head, finally locating the textbook and handing it to my father with a smile and a 'goodnight'.

I headed into my bedroom and stripped out of my clothes, changing into my pajama shorts and a tank top. I took off my makeup, brushed my teeth and then literally flopped onto my bed, grabbing my phone from my purse along the way.

I called Allison straight away, inspecting my nails in the dim light of my lap as I waited for her to pick up.

"Oh my God, thank goodness you're alive."

I laughed,"Yes, I'm alive."

"How was it? Was it weird? Was it painfully awkward?"

"No." I answered honestly,"It was actually fine. Derek's not so bad. It only got weird when I got home and Stiles was there."

"Yeah, he came over and was all flustered. He practically sprinted back to his jeep when I said you were with Derek."

"There's definite tension there. I don't know, I mean Scott and Stiles don't have to share friends, but -"

"You'd expect them too?" Allison laughed,"So would I."

With the mention of Scott, we moved onto different topics, and by the time I said goodnight and hung up the phone, it was almost two in the morning. Thank God the next day was a Saturday.

Just as I lay down and closed my eyes, my phone buzzed with a text.

_To make up for not saying goodbye, you, Allison and I are going out for breakfast. Pick you up at eight! - Lydia._

The noise that came out of my mouth was a mixture of a groan and a laugh as I put my phone down again and fell asleep the minute my head hit the pillow.

* * *

I spent Saturday with Lydia and Allison, ending up at my house watching movies for almost the entire day, and on Sunday, I took Lucy and some of her friends out for ice-cream before babysitting her while my sister was in work.

I narrowly avoided sleeping in on Monday morning, and made a dash to get ready. I threw on a beige dress that had little pink and red roses printed all over it, matching beige wedge boots and a denim jacket, before pinning my hair back in a half-up, half-down hairstyle. I grabbed my bag and my keys, snatching a granola bar from the kitchen and hurrying out the door and into my Yaris.

When I arrived at school, I saw Scott and Allison talking. Her father was still parked by the curb and he nodded in my direction when he saw me, giving me a smile that I returned, complete with a small wave. I watched Allison wave goodbye to her father, and then walk away from Scott and towards me. As she stopped beside me, I raised an eyebrow.

"Well?"

"I'm giving him a second chance. He explained that he was feeling sick, so I mean, it wasn't technically his fault that he bailed."

I shrugged,"Not at all. So things are good then?"

"Very. I promised to come watch him at lacrosse practice today at lunch, so guess where you're going."

I rolled my eyes,"Fine, fine."

Allison scrunched up her face,"You don't actually mind, do you?"

"Not at all." I shook my head as we headed into the school building,"I'm actually beginning to really like lacrosse. I mean, don't get me wrong, you're not going to see me running onto the field any time soon, but I'm really excited for the game. I'm feeling the pep."

Allison laughed,"So am I. It's nice. We didn't really have anything like that in my old school."

"We had a basketball team," I shrugged,"But they weren't very good."

Allison fell silent then, and I glanced from the inside of my locker towards her to see her slowly pulling her black blazer out of her locker.

"How did this get in here?" She asked, more to herself than anyone else. I shrugged.

"Maybe Lydia brought it. She knows both of our combinations, remember?"

"Yeah, maybe... but why wouldn't she have brought it on Saturday?"

"Maybe she forgot." I shrugged,"I don't know, ask her. I'll see you next period."

"Have fun in Physics! Don't cause a riot, young lady!" Allison called after me teasingly.

I smirked, turning around so I was walking backwards. I perfected a bored expression, twirling the ends of my hair around my finger.

"But _mom_! I'll see you later, friend!"

* * *

At lunch, after stopping by my locker, I headed to the lacrosse field to meet up with the girls. I had grabbed some candy and a bottle of water from the vending machines. It was totally a healthy lunch - depending on how you defined the word 'healthy'.

I located my friends and made my way up to them, passing Danny who was tying his laces whilst sat on the bench and clapping him on the shoulder.

Allison snatched my bag of candy the minute I was in reaching distance and she and Lydia made quick work of opening the bag and digging in. I laughed, flopping down in between them and snatching the bag back.

"Sharing is caring." Lydia laughed, nudging my playfully with her arm. I rolled my eyes, smirking at the strawberry blonde.

"Yeah? Well caring is overrated. Allison, I see your boyfriend!"

"Greenberg, take a lap. Let's go. Faster, Greenberg! Let's go!"

I held my hands out in exasperation, crossing my legs,"What is with that man and Greenberg? I will find out one day!"

"When you do? Tell us." Allison nodded, grimacing as Coach Finstock blew his beloved whistle again. Lydia snorted, which was quite out-of-character for the girl.

"Heck, when you find out, tell _Greenberg._"

The practice game continued as normal. Scott tried to dart around Jackson, but wasn't fast enough, and Coach blew his whistle. Nobody could be sure what Coach was saying as he bent down beside Scott, but after a while, the whistle blew _again _and Coach was announcing that Scott was going to try it again.

This time, things turned out _very _differently. Everyone watched in shock as Scott ran towards Jackson, and slammed right into him. Scott rolled off Jackson and bent forward on his knees, breathing heavily whilst Jackson held his shoulder, writhing on the grass in obvious pain. Lydia was up and running towards her boyfriend like the rest of the team, and Allison was moving to follow her. I hung back, watching as Stiles hurried to Scott and pretty much ran him off the field. Then I joined the others in crowding around Jackson, pushing my way through to the front where Allison and Danny were.

Somebody called an ambulance, as I bent down on Jackson's other side. Judging by how much pain he seemed to be in, I doubted his case was anything higher than a type 1 separated shoulder. I knew there was a way to check if the shoulder had actually separated. If I felt along the space between the edge of his collarbone and shoulder, and found a lump that moved or floated when touched, or there was a gap that was larger than a healthy shoulder, then that would mean there was a definite separation. But I decided to leave the examination up to the professionals, and instead focused on keeping him calm until the ambulance arrived.

* * *

Coach went with Jackson to the hospital, whilst everyone else was told to return to their classes. I had biology, so I said goodbye to Allison and gently guided Lydia to our class. Lydia immediately headed to her seat, whilst I stopped by Stiles's desk. The boy had his head against his hand, seeming awfully down. I frowned, tilting my head.

"You okay?"

Stiles jumped, being stirred from his thoughts. He locked eyes with me and flushed, sitting up straighter,"Uh, yeah. I-I'm fine. How's Jackson?"

I glanced back at Lydia, lowering my voice as I answered,"We don't know. I'm going to take Lydia to the hospital after school. I highly doubt that they'll keep him in overnight."

Stiles nodded to let me know he was listening, but didn't say anything more until I asked.

"Do you know what happened out there? Is Scott okay?"

"Yeah." Stiles nodded, speaking quietly,"He's... he's fine. He thought Jackson would move but -"

"Jackson's stubborn." I finished,"Yeah. Look, are you sure you're okay?"

Stiles took a deep breath and smiled as the teacher called for attention,"I'm fine."

I pursed my lips,"Pinky promise?"

Stiles laughed, and I knew it was a real laugh, and not a fake one, as he reached up and shook my pinky finger with his,"Pinky promise."

I giggled and returned to my seat, flashing him a smile as I sat down beside Lydia, who smirked at me. I frowned in confusion, and turned my attention back to the class, reaching for my textbook.

By the end of the class, some of the excitement over Jackson's injury had died down, but I could tell Lydia was getting antsy, watching as she checked her phone for news every five to ten minutes. Luckily, our next class was maths, and I knew how much she enjoyed the subject.

I took my seat, and kept my head down, trying to avoid the danger zone as the teacher called out for three students to begin the class by solving an equation each on the board. His eyes scanned the class, I could see him trying to find the perfect victims out of the corner of my eye.

"McCall!" He called first, and I watched Scott pass me,"Martin! And... Wright!"

_Damn it! _I cringed, a pout on my face as I stalked up to the board, picking up a piece of pretty blue chalk and beginning my equation in silence.

"Why is there a rumor going around that you're not playing tomorrow?" Lydia asked after a few seconds at the board.

"'Cause I'm sort of not." Scott replied, grumbling under his breath.

"Why not?" I asked, earning a shrug in reply.

"Well, I think you sort of are." Lydia began,"Especially when you brutally injure my boyfriend by ramming into him."

"He brutally injured himself ramming into me." Scott sighed, his chalk pausing against the board.

I listened quietly to the two of them bicker, or argue, or whatever one wanted to call it as I worked to complete my equation.

"Jackson's gonna play tomorrow. But he's not gonna be at his peak, and I prefer my boyfriend at peak performance. I date the captain of the winning lacrosse team, and if they start off the season losing, I date the captain of the _losing _lacrosse team." Lydia pursed her lips, a hand on her hip as she effortlessly continued on with the maths question, all the while keeping her attitude trained on poor Scott,"I don't date losers."

"Losing one game isn't gonna kill anyone." Scott groaned, and then lowered his voice to barely above a whisper,"In fact, it might even save someone."

I frowned, tossing him a sidelong glance. I suspected his guilt over hurting Jackson was just messing with him, but his choice of words stuck with me, even as I shook my head and pretended to be more interested in maths.

"Fine! Don't play." Lydia shrugged, her tone one of contempt,"We'll probably win anyway. Then we'll go out after, like we were planning And I'll introduce Allison to all the hot players on the team. And Scott McCall can stay home, surfing the net for porn."

"Lydia!" I scolded, and she turned to smile at me, holding up her hands in a questioning manner, feigning innocence as she set down her chalk and strode confidently back to her seat. I finished up my equation and set my chalk down too, patting Scott's arm inconspicuously before heading back to my own seat, earning a nod from the teacher to let me know I had done everything right.

"Mr. McCall, you're not even _close_ to solving your problem."

Lydia turned to smirk at me and I rolled my eyes, sighing as I watched Scott attempt to finish under the glare of the entire class.

* * *

"Hey! Did you hear?" Danny asked as he met up with me in the hallway.

"Hey!" My grin dropped,"What? Hear what?"

"The police have put the town on an emergency curfew."

"What?" I frowned, stopping at my locker,"Why?"

Danny leaned against the locker beside mine,"Because of the body found last week. They're searching for the other half, and they don't want anyone else out in case they get attacked."

"I'm sure every teenager in Beacon Hills is _so happy _about that one." I drawled,"What time do we have to be home with the lights out by?"

"I think it's like eight, or nine. Someone's already throwing an 'anti curfew' party. Wanna go and break the rules?"

"Ooh, I'd love to." I laughed,"But my father is home tonight and he would never let me. I'd sneak out, I mean there's even a tree outside my window I could climb, but, I suck at climbing and I'd rather not break something."

"Probably best. Too many injuries happening in Beacon today. You're driving Lydia to the hospital today to pick up Jackson after school, right?"

"Actually, he called. We have to be there at six-thirty. He's fine," I answered before Danny could ask,"He's a huge baby, but he's fine."

"What happened?"

"Separated shoulder." I answered,"He should be fine for the game this Friday."

"Good." Danny nodded,"God, if you think his whining is bad now, imagine how bad he would be if he didn't get to play on Friday."

I groaned, leaning my head against the locker,"Oh, I can hear his voice and everything!"

Danny laughed, giving me a hug as the final bell rang,"I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Bye!" I called after him, and slung my bag over my shoulder, before heading off towards my car. Just as I reached the door, I heard my name being called and stopped, smiling as Scott jogged up to me.

"Hi."

"What did Derek say to you?"

"Woah, don't waste any time or anything." I blinked.

"Olivia."

"Nothing! We talked about books, and movies. What's this about?"

Scott shook his head, taking a step back,"Nothing. I just... just be careful, okay? He's not the kind of guy you want hanging around. I didn't mean to be so..."

"No, it's fine." I shrugged,"You're still out of whack from what happened at practice, it's fine. Jackson's fine, Scott. It was an accident." I said sincerely, squeezing his shoulder in a comforting manner,"I'll uh, I'll talk to you later okay?"

Scott nodded, and I gave him a smile before pushing open the double blue doors and looking around for my car. Allison was there, talking to Lydia and I skipped over to them, tapping Allison's arm.

"What's up with your boyfriend?"

"What?" Her eyebrows knitted together,"What are you talking about?"

"He just came up to me in the hallway, all freaked out, asking me about Derek."

"You too? I told him about my jacket and he totally freaked."

"Wait, he asked about Derek?" Lydia asked, her green eyes wide,"This wouldn't be Derek Hale would it?"

"Yeah." I nodded,"Why?"

"You guys don't know?" Lydia questioned, her eyebrows in her hairline.

"Know what?" Allison spoke on behalf of the both of us.

"A few years back, somebody set fire to this house in the woods. Nearly everyone inside died, a whole family of people."

"Beacon had an arsonist?" I mused,"Yikes. What happened?"

"Nothing. Nobody was ever caught or even linked to the fire. The only person who survived who was actually _in _the house was so badly burned and in shock that he was left comatose."

"And who else survived?"

Lydia looked to Allison,"Laura, and Derek Hale. I didn't even think he was still in town."

"Well he is." I nodded,"He was at your party."

Lydia pursed her lips and then shrugged,"Ah, _everyone_ was at my party. Can we go? I want my boyfriend."

The three of us spent a few moments saying goodbye before Allison left, and Lydia and I headed off towards my house, Derek never leaving my mind the entire time.

* * *

We arrived at the hospital at exactly six-thirty, and I left Lydia in the waiting room, talking on her earpiece as I went in search of my mother.

As luck would have it, my mother was the one going over Jackson's terms of release, and I decided to let her do her job as I continued down the hallway towards the office I was looking for.

**Dr. Conrad Fenris.**

I knocked, and waited for the call to tell me it was okay to enter, before pushing down on the handle and bursting inside, a grin on my face.

"Surprise!"

"Olivia!" He smiled,"What brings you here?"

"A friend of mine was taken to hospital. Separated shoulder. I'm picking him up because his girlfriend is my best friend, and her car is in the repair shop."

My uncle nodded, typing away on his computer as I walked around his office. I smirked and lay out on the large couch, crossing my hands over my stomach.

"It all began the day I was born..."

"Wrong office, wrong ward." Conrad chuckled,"Psychiatry is up the stairs and to the left."

"Ooh, my kinda ward." I grinned, sitting up and tapping my fingers against the redish brown leather couch. I stood up, my heels barely making a sound as I walked across the carpeted floor towards the bookshelves that lined the wall.

I let my finger drag along the spines of the books, landing on one titled 'Aconite'. Just as I reached for it, the door opened and my mother popped her head around the door.

"Hey, brother -" Her eyes and pointer finger landed on me,"Daughter. Surprising. Why are you here?"

"You could be happier to see me." I muttered. My mother grinned and wrapped her arms around me tightly, kissing my cheek.

"Hey, honey! How was school? Why are you here?" She asked in a chirpy voice. I wriggled out of her grasp, adjusting my denim jacket.

"Okay, no, not that happy."

"Just can't win with teenagers these days." Conrad laughed from his desk.

"_I'm _here," I began,"To pick up Jackson Whittemore. Is he ready?"

"I didn't know he was your friend, and yes, _please_, take him. I thought your brother was bad."

I grimaced,"Right... I'll just let Lydia deal with him."

"And be home before the curfew!" My mother called after me,"Yes, I heard. Your father is waiting."

I pouted,"Of course he is. Overprotective parents..." I grumbled, heading off towards the waiting room. I received a text from Lydia telling me she had already taken Jackson to my car and they were waiting on me.

I walked right around the corner, and then slowly backpedaled to stand in front of who was sat in the hard plastic, teal colored chairs. I tilted my head, reading the title of the pamphlet he was hiding behind.

"_The Menstrual Cycle: What you need to know..._ so, you all caught up now, Stiles, or...?"

Stiles jumped, as if finally realizing what he was truly reading and tossing it to one side with a hiss of disgust, almost as though the page had burned him. I giggled.

"Olivia! Hey!" Stiles jumped up, shuffling awkwardly,"You're here! At the hospital! With me..."

"Yeah..." I nodded, still grinning,"Looks like it."

Stiles took a deep breath, scratching his chin,"So, what brings you here?"

"I'm picking up Jackson." I answered,"Lydia's car is in the shop. You?"

"Visiting Scott's mom."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know -"

"Oh, no!" Stiles chuckled,"She works here."

"Right." I remembered, shaking my head, and putting a hand to my face,"The worst part is, I actually knew that."

"We all get forgetful." Stiles grinned,"So, how is Jackson? Pretend that I care."

I laughed,"He's fine."

My phone rang then and I picked it up,"Speak of the devil - hey, Jackson."

"I want to go home! Did you run to Mexico?"

I rolled my eyes,"I'm on my way, _princess. _Don't strain yourself."

I hung up and turned to Stiles, sighing,"I should go before Jack_ass _tears out all his hair."

Stiles smirked,"You mean Jack_son_?"

"No, no, I meant Jackass." I nodded,"Yup. I'll see you tomorrow."

Stiles laughed,"Bye!"

I continued my journey south, entering the elevator and pressing the button for the first floor.

I blew out a breath, my eyes roaming around the mirrored inside of the elevator in boredom. I caught a flash of red, and gasped, whirling around to see what the reflection had caught.

Nothing.

Frowning, I turned back around just as the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. Stepping out, I hurried out the front door and into the parking lot, climbing into the front seat.

"Lydia, be careful!"

"Jackson, you have to put your seat belt on."

"Well, just, give me a second. There. Now try." Jackson glared at me,"'Bout time. Did you see something shiny?"

I fought the urge to roll my eyes,"Oh, just the glare of your ego. What did my mom say?"

"She said not to make a habit of it, but one cortisone shot won't kill me." He grumbled as I turned in my seat to look at him.

"So, basically, you'll live?"

"Yes!" Jackson snapped impatiently. I snorted, turning back around and starting up my engine.

"Funny, I wouldn't have guessed."

* * *

**First of all, I'm so sorry this is a little late! Things have been hectic, but it's here now.**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed/favorited/followed. You guys are the best! :)**

**- Megan.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Little Red**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

Waking up the next morning, I immediately knew something was wrong. I woke up with a frown settled on my features, and threw the covers off of my body, heading downstairs straight away, not even changing out of my pajamas.

The tv was on in the kitchen, the volume turned down, and documenting the find of the second half of the body from the woods. When the small writing at the bottom of the screen declared that the owner of the property where the body had been found had been arrested as a suspect, I reached for the remote and turned the volume up just in time.

"Twenty-five year old, Derek Hale, was arrested this morning on the suspicion of murder. The second half of the body found last Sunday night was found by two teenage boys in the late hours of _last _night. Police refuse to comment on anything at this time. Derek Hale is the the third and final survivor of the Hale House Fire that occurred just over six years ago..."

I switched off the television, slumping down in my seat, in a sort of state of shock. My jokes about him being a serial killer with a body in the backseat had been just that - jokes. But the thought that I had been right, that the other half of that poor girl's body could have been in the trunk whilst I sat up front, laughing with her killer sent a sharp shiver up my spine.

It didn't make any sense. Derek could have hurt me, or Allison, or even the both of us. He had a good seven inches on me and probably about fifty to a hundred pounds of muscle that I seriously lacked, and Allison wasn't much taller than me - three inches at least. Why would he have made such an effort to get to know me? And was that why Stiles had been so worried when he showed up at my house? Did he know something?

I shook my head, rubbing my temples. I couldn't think about it right now. I had a physics test to fail, and knowing that none of my friends were in the class was even more daunting. With a slight groan, I pushed all thoughts of Derek and/or Stiles out of my mind and headed upstairs to get ready for the day.

I dressed in a pair of grey skinny jeans, a loose light teal blouse and matching vans. I brushed out my red curls and let them tumble down my shoulders. I grabbed my things and made my way back into the kitchen, applying my lip gloss on the way.

The tv was on again, and both of my parents were watching the repeat of the news report I had seen. I made myself busy, making myself a slice of toast. I ate it plain, munching away, lost in thought.

"Derek Hale..." My mother repeated the name, testing it out on her tongue,"Never met the guy."

"Me neither." My father nodded. They both expectantly looked at me, and I froze, my eyes wide as I shook my head.

"Never heard of him."

I breathed a sigh of relief as they shrugged, and moved on from the topic of Derek. I said my goodbyes and quickly hurried to school. I looked around for Allison or Lydia, wanting to know if they knew of the new twist, and didn't find them. So I began walking towards a familiar locker that I had passed countless times but rarely actually stopped in front of.

Stiles didn't notice as I slipped up beside him, resting my hand against the locker beside his, tapping my nails against it whilst the other hand rested on my waist. He shut his locker, humming quietly to himself, and screamed when he saw me there.

I tossed him a humorless smirk, taking a deep breath and smacking my lips together,"Hear the news?"

Stiles fumbled with his combination, refusing to meet my eyes,"What news?"

"Derek Hale was arrested on suspicion of murder this morning." I answered,"Someone found the rest of the body buried on his property. Wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

"Me?" Stiles's jaw moved up and down,"No, no, I - no. Why would I?"

"I don't know." I shrugged,"You seemed pretty wary of the guy when he dropped me home _and _he said he was Scott's friend."

"Exactly!" Stiles exclaimed,"Talk to Scott!"

"I would, but I haven't seen him. His bike wasn't even at the stands."

Stiles frowned,"It wasn't?"

I shook my head, humming as I did so,"Hm... nope."

"Huh..." Stiles's eyes left me and traveled across the floor as he thought, bringing his hand up to his mouth to bite on the back of his nail, a habit I had gotten used to. I frowned, ducking my head to catch his eyes again.

"Why? Is something wrong?"

Stiles locked eyes with me again and instantly shook his head,"Uh, no. He's probably just running late. He wasn't feeling well this morning - uh, last night." He corrected himself as the bell rang,"Oh! Bell! Gotta go, and you need to get to that physics test. Huh? Okay. See you later."

Stiles put his hands on my shoulders and turned me in the direction of the physics lab, and when I turned around, he was practically running down the hall. I rolled my eyes, huffing as I turned on my heel and made my way to physics.

* * *

Just like last week in gym, the class was split into two sides. I didn't really know many of the the people on my side, other than Jackson, though we spent most of the time talking than actually doing physical exercise because of his shoulder, and the fact that I was feeling drained, and therefore lazy after my exam.

I kept glancing over towards Stiles, who would check his phone constantly. Scott hadn't shown up to gym either, making it pretty clear that he hadn't come to school at all that day. Nobody really noticed except for Stiles, Allison and I, mainly because everyone was so busy talking about alleged murderer Derek Hale. That was part of the reason I was actually glad to be paired with Jackson - the boy couldn't stop talking about himself long enough to discuss the events of that very morning.

"So, your mom was pretty cool." Jackson shrugged,"Took her sweet time injecting the pain killer but..."

I shoved his chest,"That's cause she was considering who needed it more; you for your injury, or her for listening to you _whine _about your injury."

Jackson glared, bumping me out of the way so he could grab the basketball I had thrown into the net and take his own shot. I rolled my eyes and stepped back, hoping he would miss the hoop, but he didn't, and I grumbled because of it.

"Don't listen to him." The tall boy standing next to be whispered, bending so he could reach my level. _Why was Beacon Hills full of tall people?_,"He's just upset because the fall messed up his hair."

I snorted, and Jackson rounded back to look at me oddly. I poked out my tongue at him, earning an eye-roll. He tossed the ball at me and I caught it, bouncing it before shooting it into the net. I missed, and he smirked, turning away. It bounced off the wall and hit Jackson in the back of the head. It took all of two seconds for me to burst out laughing. Many of the other kids in the gym who had seen were laughing too, including Stiles and even Coach Finstock had a grin on his face. Jackson stared at me in a way that made me think _if looks could kill_ and stalked off.

I snickered again, high-fiving the boy who was chuckling beside me,"Does that automatically give me ten more points?"

"I think it does."

I smiled up at the curly-haired, soft-spoken boy,"I'm Olivia, I don't think we've met."

"Not formally." He agreed quietly, shaking my hand,"Isaac. Isaac Lahey."

Jackson came back to us after a minute or two, and hit his shoulder off mine, declaring war. Even though he glared at me most of the way through the rest of our class, I caught him grinning every so often, clearly enjoying the competition. When the bell rang with me in the lead of our mini 'who can get more points' fight, I tapped his chest, beaming victoriously before sharing a grin with Isaac and flouncing off towards the girls locker rooms.

I was heading towards the cafeteria when the door to the nearest classroom opened, and my arm was grabbed, my body flying through the open door. Allison shut the door behind us, and turned to look at me, her hazel eyes wide.

"Did you hear?"

I nodded, instantly knowing what she was talking about,"Yeah. It was on the news this morning."

Allison sighed, leaning her body back against the door and pushing her hand through her hair,"It's so weird. He didn't seem creepy at all."

"He was laughing and joking with me." I shrugged, sliding onto the teacher's desk and crossing my legs,"But then... there was Stiles."

Allison frowned, tilting her head as she looked at me,"What do you mean?"

"There was definite tension when Derek and I got to my house. Stiles was on edge until Derek left. He even told me to be careful before he left. And then there was Scott's little freak-out yesterday..." I added, my eyebrows furrowed as a sign of my inner, troubled thoughts,"Hey, have you heard from him actually?"

"Not since last night." Allison shook her head,"He didn't show up for Art class today."

"And he wasn't in gym. Stiles said he wasn't feeling well this morning."

"He seemed fine talking to me last night." Allison shrugged, and then glanced at her buzzing phone. I rose my eyebrows, and she shook her head, letting me know it wasn't the devil himself, and sucked in her lips,"Lydia's wondering where we are."

I exhaled, moving off of the desk and grabbing my bag, rolling my neck dramatically as I headed for the door that Allison had unlocked.

"Best not to keep her waiting."

* * *

The next few days flew quickly, bringing us up to Friday with little to no contact from Scott. Allison was getting worried, as was I, and when asked, Stiles had just reiterated what he had told me - Scott hadn't been feeling well, and whatever it was must have caught up with him. Allison had nodded, and seemed to relax - if anyone was going to know what was happening with the puppy-dog eyed boy, it was surely going to be his best friend. I took the explanation with a grain of salt.

Despite the assuring words coming from Stiles's mouth, he seemed skeptical of his own words, unsure about the credibility they held, and he seemed distracted.

That Friday, during fourth period, my English class and I ended up in the library. Allison had tucked herself into a corner with some novel, though she was paying more attention to her phone, and I browsed the aisles for something to read, knowing that it really didn't matter what I chose, because Allison and I were just going to spend the class talking anyway. Still, I was inexplicably restless and needed to be up and moving. I attributed it to my intake of coffee that morning, despite my mother's protests of me drinking the stuff. She had left early for work, so what she didn't know wasn't going to hurt her.

I wound up at the last aisle in the library, away from everyone else. It was peaceful in the library. Save for the odd cough, or the random hushing from the librarian, it was quiet.

I turned the corner and frowned, seeing him there. Stiles sat with his back against the bookcase, his legs spread out in front of him as he lay his head back, and played with the phone on his lap. He grumbled softly under his breath, running a hand through his closely cropped dark hair, and glanced at his phone. I swore I heard him mutter 'Come on, Scott...' as I wordlessly and quietly moved to sit beside him.

"Hey. What are you doing back here?"

"Have you seen Scott?" He asked instantly, turning his head to look at me.

"Uh, no, not for a few days. You said he was sick."

"Yeah, I did, didn't I?" Stiles licked his lips, scratching the back of his neck,"He hasn't called you, or anything?"

"No." I shook my head,"Allison hasn't heard from him either. Maybe he's just resting. Did you try his house?"

Stiles pursed his lips,"Yeah. Maybe I just keep missing him..."

"You think he'll show for the game tonight?" I asked, eying the banner hanging from the wall out of the corner of my eyes. Stiles shrugged.

"Maybe. He's missed practice, but... I don't know."

I nodded slowly,"Guess we'll find out tonight."

Stiles looked at me again, a small smile on his face,"You're coming to the game?"

"Of course!" I laughed, far more endeared by his little grin than I cared to admit,"Family event, in face."

"Yeah?"

"Mmhmm." I nodded with a smile,"My mom used to go to them all the time, and when I told her the first big game of the season was tonight, she took the night off. It'll be me, my parents, and my brother, so please, stay away from them because I actually like being friends with you."

Stiles laughed; a real laugh and I remained serious, shaking my head.

"I'm not kidding. Every embarrassing thing I've done will be revealed if you talk to them."

Stiles smirked,"Ooh, now I'm intrigued."

I groaned dramatically, though I was smiling along with him. I covered my face,"Damn it!"

"Don't worry." Stiles chuckled,"If it makes you feel any better, my dad will be there too, and he's equally as embarrassing."

"Well, I know who I'm sitting next to tonight." I giggled as the bell rang behind us, and our teacher began wrapping up the class. Stiles moved and stood up, adjusting his hoodie as I drew my knees up so I could stand. He held his hand out to me, and I smiled, taking it so I could push my body up. Stiles's fingers wrapped around mine, giving me a squeeze and a small smile that said thank you. I didn't have to ask what for, and nodded, returning the smile. Stiles let go of my hand and began to leave, but I bit my lip and then placed my hand on his arm, stopping him.

"Stiles, did you know something about Derek?"

"Olivia..."

"_Stiles_..."

The boy sighed, scratching his chin before exhaling heavily,"I didn't know about the body."

"But you knew something." I added, more of a statement than a question. Stiles shrugged with one shoulder, a soft grimace flashing on his lips. I nodded slowly.

"Okay. That's all I wanted to know." I took my hand from his arm, raising my hands as a sign of surrender and taking a step back. He seemed relieved that I wasn't going to push, if not a little surprised. I was surprised at myself too; my curiosity was eating away at me, but I knew the boy was under too much (self-inflicted) stress, so I decided to leave him be.

I flashed him a dazzling smile before skipping off in the direction of Allison, calling over my shoulder as I went along.

"See you at the game!"

* * *

As soon as I got home, I did my homework and got that out of the way, and then got ready whilst balancing Lydia on the phone. She was going over the rules of attending the first big game. I had to wear something with the same color of our team's jersey, I had to be peppy, and I had to help her hold up the signs she had made for Jackson and _not _make sarcastic comments.

"But I have so many good ones!" I whined, finally managing to button the grey waistcoat I had thrown over a white tank top and maroon skinny jeans I had chosen, all with one hand.

"Save them!" Lydia warned, and I heard the pop of her lip gloss tube. There was a smacking sound before Lydia spoke again,"So, any idea if McCall is going to grace us with his presence or not?"

I shrugged, sitting back on my bed to slip on the grey flats,"Who knows?"

"He better." Lydia grumbled,"Or Coach Finstock will be the _least _of his problems."

"Lydia, try not to be so hard on the boy just because he had second thoughts about playing tonight." I scolded,"It's his first time actually being on the field. Would you be so confident?"

Lydia chortled,"Olivia, I'm always confident."

I rolled my eyes, knowing that wasn't the true case, but not calling her out on it. Instead, I inhaled, putting the phone on speaker so I could focus on my hair and makeup,"Well, if he does show up, just leave him be. Say hi, say whatever, but don't hound him." I then smirked,"That's Allison's job."

"I can't believe he hasn't called her. I mean, she gives him a second chance and gets radio silence. If I were her, I'd..."

"Hey, mom!" I called loudly, effectively shutting Lydia up before she said anything too bad.

"Hey, honey, you almost ready to go?"

I nodded, holding up my finger to signify that I needed a minute before picking up my phone,"Hey, I'm leaving now. Yes, I'll meet you at the front of the school. No! You can't do that to the poor boy! Pretty sure that's illegal. Okay, bye."

I couldn't help but laugh as I hung up and slipped my phone into my purse. My mom raised an eyebrow,"Do I want to know?"

"Mom, _I _didn't want to know."

My mom chuckled, leaning against the door frame and folding her hands, smiling at me. My eyebrows rose.

"You okay there?"

"Of course." She nodded.

"You sure? 'Cause you're smiling at me all weird." My confused smile dropped,"Oh, God, what did you find out about?"

My mother shook her head,"Nothing - wait, is there something I should know about?"

And just like that, stern mom was back and I was laughing nervously,"Course not. I love you, mommy."

"Mmhmm..." Mom rolled her eyes,"Anyway, I was just smiling because this is nice."

"Standing in my room? Sure, it's great. Little drafty, but..."

"Not what I meant, smart ass." Mom snickered,"I meant seeing _you_ like this. Happy, sociable... you really like it here, don't you?"

I smiled, scrunching up my face,"I don't _hate _it."

Mom came further into the room and pulled me into a hug,"I'm glad you're happy."

"Mom! We're gonna be late!" Carter called, speeding into my room,"Aw, family moment! Let me go get the camera!"

Mom grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him into our hug too, ruffling my hair and his.

"My two-out-of-three babies..." She cooed as Carter and I both fought to escape her grasp.

"No!" I gasped dramatically,"Do you know how long it took to get my hair this perfect?!"

"Mom! You wiped out all the gel!" Carter exclaimed, pushing me out of the way of my own mirror. I glared and thumped the back of his head.

My mom cackled as she walked out of my room, leaving the sounds of Carter and I bickering behind her.

"Ah, that's the sound of family!"

* * *

"Olivia!"

I jumped, slamming the door to my father's car closed in fright,"What?!"

Allison skidded to a halt beside me, greeting my family quickly before grabbing my arm,"My dad's here."

"Cool, so is mine." I stated slowly, confused as to why she was so frantic about this new development.

"And so is Scott!"

"Now I'm listening." I nodded,"What happened?"

"Scott was coming to my house to apologize for not calling, and my dad ran him over."

"Oh, my God, is he okay?"

"He's fine. It was just a graze, but I don't know, the three of us were talking, and somehow that ended with my dad coming _here._ What do I do?"

"It can't be _that _bad." I tried to reason.

Allison whined and grabbed me by the elbow, lowering her voice so she could whisper to me,"How am I supposed to see if Scott's going to make a move with my dad breathing down my neck?"

"Oh..." I nodded,"You want me to be a distraction? Done!" I spotted Lydia making her way towards us, weighed down by a large white poster with Jackson's name scrawled on it,"Dear God, it's a walking poster."

Allison turned to look and we both began laughing as Lydia stopped in front of us and shoved the poster into our arms, pouting,"It's a piece of cardboard, it should not weigh that much!"

I snorted, feigning a hurt expression and stroking the top of the poster,"Lydia! What if the poster has issues with his weight? You just upset him."

Lydia fixed me with her best stern glare, pointing a finger at me,"I thought I told you to leave your sarcasm at home."

I pouted, blinking innocent,"It gets lonely."

Lydia rolled her eyes and pulled a face at me, before turning her attention to Allison,"So, did your boyfriend show up?"

"Yeah, he's on the field getting ready - okay, bye."

We watched as the strawberry blonde made her way towards the field, stomping her heels against the pavement and pushing by the horde of people that had come out for the game. I grimaced.

"Well, Scott's in trouble..."

"What? Why?" Allison frowned.

I tapped her shoulder, taking the poster and shoving into Carter's arms as he strode around us before pushing him in the direction we were headed.

"Let's just say, in the words of Captain Jack Sparrow; _Eunuchy, snip snip._"

* * *

After taking our seats next to Melissa McCall and Mr. Argent, I wound up excusing myself to get some popcorn for my childish older brother, and clapped Stiles's shoulder as I passed him.

"Hey, friend!"

"Hey!" He greeted enthusiastically,"Scott showed up!"

"So I see." I nodded with a smile,"You nervous about tonight?"

"Not really. I never get to play anyway."

"You can still be nervous." I shrugged,"I am."

"You are?" He raised an eyebrow.

I grimaced, wrapping my arms around myself in fake disgust,"I have this disease called team spirit."

Stiles snorted, reaching out and patting my shoulder,"I'm so sorry."

"Thank you." I teared up, putting my hand over my mouth before setting it against my chest. I caught his eyes and burst out laughing along with him.

"Dad!" He greeted cheerily as a tall man stopped beside him. Dressed in jeans, a plaid shirt and a beige jacket, I could see the family resemblance as Mr. Stilinski smiled down at his son and then glanced at me.

Stiles stood up,"Dad, this is Olivia. Olivia, this is my dad."

"Hi!" I beamed, shaking his hand,"It's nice to meet you!"

"Olivia... have we met before?"

I pursed my lips, glancing at Stiles in confusion,"I don't think so, no."

"John!"

"Tony!" Mr. Stilinski grinned as he greeted my father with a hug. Stiles and I shared a look before I smiled, raising an eyebrow.

"You two know each other?"

"I worked with John a few years back." Dad nodded,"He helped me out on a paper I wrote. John's the Sheriff of Beacon Hills - it's good to see you!"

Sheriff Stilinski nodded in agreement, smiling back at me,"I knew you were familiar. Your father told me all about you."

"And _your _father told me all about _you_." Dad turned to Stiles,"Stiles, right?"

Stiles cleared his throat, shaking my father's hand,"Yes, sir."

I tried to stifle my giggle. My father got the same reaction from every teenage boy to ever cross his path. At almost 6 ft 1, he was a muscled man who had a naturally intimidating posture.

Carter ran by us then, jabbing my shoulder. I winced, rubbing the spot,"Ow!"

"You suck at getting popcorn, sis!"

I rolled my eyes, turning back and addressing the two Stilinski men,"And that was my brother." I clasped my hands together and spoke directly to Sheriff Stilinski,"I apologize in advance for any misdemeanors you have to arrest him for."

Dad rolled his eyes, clasping his hands down on my shoulders as Coach Finstock blew his whistle,"Okay! Let's get to it, shall we?"

We took our seats, with Dad, Sheriff Stilinski and Mr. Argent quickly getting wrapped up in a conversation, complete with hushed tones. I didn't have too much time to focus on them, instead being guided through the art of cheering on a lacrosse team by Ms. Martin.

It wasn't so hard to get into the big game. I wasn't sure if it was the atmosphere, or the fact that my friends were on the field, but I found myself jumping up and down whenever we scored, and groaning whenever the other team did. Jackson had the ball, and was sprinting down the field at an impressive speed, running straight by Scott, who was clearly open. The ball was passed a few times before one of the players for our team, Matt, missed the shot and the ball rolled on the grass. Lydia had both my hand and Allison's clutched in hers, and I could feel her squeeze my hand in anticipation as Scott dove for the ball. Her grip loosened and Allison gasped as Jackson rammed into him, knocking him down. I rolled my eyes.

"Damn it, Jackson."

Carter leaned in and whispered to me,"What is that guy's deal?"

"He has an ego bigger than this school." I offered, earning a nod. Carter snorted.

"Boy is _not _a team player. Ironic how he's the _captain_..."

Lydia shot my brother a look,"He probably didn't realize it was Scott."

Carter raised his hands in surrender, leaning back against the bleachers and blowing out a breath,"Just saying."

Jackson snatched the ball and shot it into the net, his momentary _accident _now a thing of the past as the crowd lept to their feet, cheering loudly.

I stood up and clapped too, watching the rush the score sent around the place. Coach Finstock was practically hopping up and down on the sidelines, ecstatically calling out. Lydia twirled, her eyes going from Allison and me as she nodded excitedly. Allison and I shared a look as the strawberry blonde bent down to retrieve the poster, and we each grabbed onto a corner to help her hold it up.

"Aw..." Carter chuckled,"You look like a groupie."

I smiled at him and spoke through clenched teeth,"Kill me."

He laughed, standing up to help me hold it on my side in a rare moment of brotherly care. Jackson caught sight of the sign and smirked smugly, making me poke my tongue out at him as Scott was still laying on the ground. Sadly, the forlorn boy saw it too, and suddenly he was up. My eyes landed on Stiles, who winced when he saw the sign and he glanced back towards his friend, his body tensing.

After another while, the luck our team seemed to have in the beginning died down, and soon, the opposing team had us outnumbered by three. There were only a few minutes left of the game, and the buzz was beginning to damper. I blew out a breath, watching the fog billow out as the night grew colder, my knee bouncing up and down nervously.

The men seemed to have come back to the game, and Mr. Argent spoke up,"Which one is Scott again?"

"Number eleven." Allison replied.

"Otherwise known as the only one who hasn't caught a single ball this entire game." Lydia huffed, her lips pursed in a pout. I glanced at her sideways.

"_Lydia_..."

The strawberry blonde huffed again, uncrossing her arms,"Well he hasn't."

"Maybe because no one is passing to him." I pointed out,"Why is that?"

"I can think of one reason." Carter drawled, nodding towards Jackson who had gathered most of his friends into a circle on the field. They seemed to be arguing, and I rolled my eyes.

"I just hope he's okay." Allison sighed, scratching her forehead. Lydia bent forward, grabbing for the sign again,"I hope _we're _okay. Come on, help me with this."

Allison and I stood up to help Lydia hold up her sign, though we were much less enthusiastic. Carter stood up again too, and I heard him mutter under his breath,"Come on, McCall. Up you get."

The game was back on, and the ball was flying into the air before I even knew what was happening. There was a flash of red, and the crowd went wild as Scott skillfully bypassed the rival players, landing the ball straight into the net. I cheered as Allison giggled happily, clapping. Lydia was a little put-out, though she clapped too, nodding to herself. Carter called out, as did my father, Sheriff Stilinski and even Mr. Argent. I could see Stiles bouncing around on the bench and smiled.

The players reset time and time again, though Scott always found some way to get the ball in his lacrosse stick. At one point, it looked as though a rival player simply tossed the ball _to _Scott. The game was down to the last ten seconds, and everyone was eagerly anticipating Scott to score again and push us past the tie score.

He did and the crowd went wild. I laughed in astonishment as the goalie held up his mangled lacrosse stick, inspecting the torn net.

"Man that boy has major swing!" I laughed gleefully, hugging Allison and a disgruntled but happy Lydia. I nudged the girl's arm,"Come on, Lyd. We _won._ Besides, Jackson's not even looking this way. He's too busy trying to make Scott's head explode."

"Maybe you should be telling Scott to be more happy." Lydia pointed out, her eyes on the field. Carter frowned.

"What's wrong with him?"

I shrugged, as the crowd began running onto the field to congratulate the winning team. Lydia flounced off towards a fuming Jackson, and I watched Scott run off of the field. Stiles went to run after him, but Sheriff Stilinski reached him before he could take off.

Allison watched her boyfriend run, her expression troubled. Mr. Argent was glancing between her and the direction Scott had run off in, and I cleared my throat.

"You know what, before we go, I have to grab something from my locker and schools are really creepy at night when they're empty. Allison, this way!"

Allison seemed confused as I grabbed her arm and tugged her after me, though she cottoned on quickly and hurried so she was in step with me.

We hurried through the hallway, where I peeked in through the window in the door of the boys' locker room and nodded,"He's in there. Go, quickly."

"Thank you!" Allison hugged me before slipping inside. I made my way down the hall, turning so I could actually get to my locker. It hadn't been a complete lie, I had forgotten my maths book. I unlocked the door and opened it, rooting through it for my book. Grabbing it, I shut the locker and froze, realizing just how quiet and dark it was inside the school. I heard something shuffle and gasped, my head whipping around towards the end of the hallway, where I thought I saw something rush by. Shaking my head, I decided it was just a shadow and shook my head, putting my hand to my forehead and chortling at my own jumpiness. I made my way back to the locker room in time for Allison to rush out, a pink blush on her cheeks.

I raised an eyebrow,"How did it go?"

Allison beamed, throwing her arm around my shoulder,"Best night ever!"

* * *

**Note: I read somewhere that Sheriff Stilinski's name was John, though I'm pretty sure it's a fandom thing. I've decided to name him John for this story because it didn't seem right to have Olivia's father address him as Sheriff when they're old friends.**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed/favorited/followed! I am posting previews and other story-related stuff on my tumblr (thatbrowneyedirishgirl. tumblr. com) and on a special tag (LittleRedTW) so check those out. **

**I hope you enjoyed and I can't wait to hear what you all think! :)**

**- Megan.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Little Red**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**So sorry this is so late. Life got in the way. I hope you enjoy - Megan.**

* * *

By next Thursday, I had expected the high from our recent win would dwindle amongst the students and teachers - I was wrong.

Everyone was still pretty excited about it, which was nice, but I didn't share in it. I wasn't a sporty girl. The one thing that had stayed on my mind was the fact that that same night, Derek had been released from jail, seemingly never to be seen again.

I got out of bed slowly, trying to drag out my time before I had to go to school. I had been plagued with a very fuzzy nightmare the night before, one I could barely remember. I think there was a bus involved, but whilst the images had left my mind, the overwhelming feeling of fear remained.

I managed to shake it off as I descended the steps, hearing the sound of my brother's voice downstairs. I snuck into the kitchen behind him, and in payback for my the morning of my first day at school, I tapped the shoulder furthest from me and darted around his other side, snatching the pop tart from his plate and taking a bite. I smirked as his wide eyes turned to glare at me, and smiled at my mother as she rolled her eyes.

"Olivia, can you lend your brother your car for today?"

I frowned,"Why?"

"Mine's in the shop." Carter explained, tousling my hair as he walked by, purely in order to irritate me.

"Your sister promised she would pick you up if you lend him it."

I grumbled, taking the keys from the back pocket of my jeans and tossing them to him,"Fine, but be gentle."

"Right, yeah, 'cause I'm really going to _hurt _your car. Thanks, baby sis. Come on, I'll drive you to school and everything. Laters, mom! Bye, dad!"

"See you later, son! Olivia, have a good day at school!" I heard my father call back and slipped out the front door, heading towards my car.

I waited for Carter to unlock the doors and slid into the passenger seat, fiddling with my radio as he buckled up and put the car in gear.

Once I had selected a song, I sat back to get a few moments of peace before my school day began.

* * *

Stiles had only been at school for five minutes before Scott found him, hurriedly telling him about his nightmare. Stiles had to admit, after hearing it, he understood why Scott was so freaked. Who dreamed about killing their girlfriend in the back of a school bus? Or did he kill her?

Stiles frowned to himself, trying to remember if Scott had confirmed it or not. He snapped out of it in time to avoid the front door of the school closing in his face as he tried to keep up with his werewolf best friend.

"So, you killed her?"

Scott sighed, holding his hands out in front of him,"I don't know, I just woke up. I was sweating like crazy and I couldn't breathe; I've never had a dream where I woke up like that before."

Stiles arched an eyebrow,"Really? I have... usually ends a little differently." He admitted, earning a chuckle from Scott as they rounded the corner.

"A, I meant I've never had a dream that felt that real, and B, never give me that much detail about you in bed ever again."

Stiles opened his mouth and then closed it, nodding once,"Noted. Let me take a guess here though -"

"No, I know," Scott cut him off, nodding himself,"You think it has something to do with me going out with Allison tomorrow; like I'm gonna lose control and rip her throat out."

"No, of course not!" Stiles said quickly - too quickly. Scott turned to raise an eyebrow at him, and Stiles faltered, grimacing slightly,"Yeah, that's totally it."

Scott sighed heavily and shook his head, continuing to walk towards the back exit of the school. Why? Stiles had no idea, but he followed his friend anyway, setting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, come on, it's gonna be totally fine, alright? Personally, I think you're handling this pretty freaking amazingly. You know? It's not like there's a 'Lycanthropy for Beginners' class you can take." Stiles subconsciously glanced towards a locker as they passed by it, and suddenly, the redheaded girl with the wide brown eyes and sweet smile popped into his head again,"Unless you ask Olivia for help."

Scott paused,"What? No! Why would I do that?"

Stiles shrugged defensively,"I don't know! The girl knows her stuff. Maybe she could be your teacher..."

Scott frowned, tilting his head to one side and peering at his now silent friend. He took a breath before asking,"Do I want to know what you're thinking right now?"

Stiles's face went red then, a blush staining his cheeks, and he reached up to scratch the back of his neck awkwardly,"Probably not."

Stiles tried to rid his mind of the thoughts of Olivia, feeling his body become flushed and heated at the thought of the short girl. He assured himself that it was normal, as a sixteen year old boy, to have less than gentlemanly thoughts about a pretty girl. Stiles shook his head; no, it wasn't okay. Olivia was his friend. His very sweet, very pretty, very smart _friend_.

Scott seemed to notice his inner turmoil and rolled his eyes, changing the subject,"Maybe you're on the right track, though."

Stiles's eyes widened,"You sure about that?"

"Not about Olivia!" Scott disagreed immediately, smacking Stiles in the stomach lightly,"I mean, maybe you're right, maybe I need a teacher."

Stiles once again found himself hurrying to keep up with his friend, his expression inquisitive,"Oh, and who would that be?" He froze,"If you say Derek, that's it, bromance over."

Scott averted his eyes, scoffing playfully,"Please, you could never break up with me."

The joking manner of Scott's tone was lost on his shocked friend, who grunted gruffly and reached over to smack Scott upside the head,"You're insane! Derek?! You forgetting the part where we got him tossed into jail?"

Scott huffed,"Yeah, I know, but chasing her, dragging her to the back of the bus, it all felt so real..."

"How real?" Stiles regarded him warily.

"Like it actually happened." Scott sighed, pushing open the door that led towards the back parking lot. Just as they stepped out, both boys froze, taking in the scene before them.

"I think it did..." Stiles mumbled. The yellow school bus in front of them looked thorougly beat up, dents marking the sides, with the back double doors hanging off their hinges. The most concerning thing of all was the blood spatters that stained the back of it. Stiles glanced at Scott, seeing his heartbreakingly worried expression. Stiles hesitated before speaking.

"She's probably fine, man."

Scott took out his phone and typed furiously before waiting a moment before exclaiming,"She's not answering my texts, Stiles!"

"Well, yeah, you just sent it." Stiles reasoned,"You know, it could just be a coincidence. Alright? A seriously amazing coincidence."

Scott turned towards his friend,"Help me find her."

Stiles nodded, his eyes flitting over Scott's shoulder where he breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the tall, dark haired girl, a smaller girl strolling along beside her.

"Scott -"

"Just help me find her, Stiles!"

"Already found." Stiles grabbed Scott's shoulders and turned him to face Allison,"She's coming this way."

Stiles felt Scott's shoulders relax under his hands as he moved to greet her. Stiles smiled softly, relieved that his friend hadn't in fact hurt his girlfriend. His breath hitched when he spotted Olivia smile at the couple before ducking by them and sliding up beside him, her forehead creasing as she glanced at the bus.

* * *

The bad feeling that had assaulted me during my sleep returned as I stepped towards Stiles, looking at the mangled bus,"What the hell happened here?"

"Don't know." Stiles answered honestly,"Some sort of attack."

I squinted, and then widened my eyes,"Is that blood?"

"Uh, yeah, looks like." Stiles grimaced, setting a hand on my shoulder to steer me away from the scene,"You don't want to see that."

"You okay?" I asked as we stepped inside, Scott and Allison following behind.

"Yeah." Stiles breathed, glancing back at Scott,"Yeah, I'm fine."

I raised a questioning eyebrow, but Stiles seemed relieved when my attention was diverted by the buzzing of the intercom from the corner.

"Attention, students, this is your principle speaking; I know you're all wondering about the incident that occured last night to one of our buses. But while police work to determine what happened, classes will proceed as scheduled. Thank you."

A few comical groans came from the students milling about around them, making me giggle and Stiles chuckle. The two of us turned towards Scott to wait for him to catch up so we could all head to chemistry class. Allison sent us a wave, calling out that she would see us in English before flouncing off down the hallway.

Conversation passed freely between our trio, and my presence proved to be a distraction for both of the boys (I wasn't sure why they seemed so on edge, but I decided it was probably from the excitement every student around us seemed to be exhibiting). Either way, we ended up in fits of laughter as I told them a story, my arms linked with theirs.

"Teenagers don't come to school to laugh, they come to suffer." Mr. Harris drawled as we all fought to race through the door first. I laughed, smirking in devilish delight as I stood back, and poked them both in the sides, darting through them and making it to my seat first, winning the silent race Stiles had challenged once we had reached the second floor moments ago.

"Don't worry." Stiles shot Mr. Harris a grin,"We suffer plenty."

"_Good._"

I rolled my eyes at Mr. Harris, trying not to squeal as Stiles walked by me to get to his desk on the opposite aisle and reached out to squeeze my side in retaliation. I giggled and swatted his hand away, earning a chuckle as he went by.

After that, class resumed as normal, with me going too wild with my pretty yellow highlighter. I grimaced at the bright yellow mess my page had become before shrugging and drawing a highlighter flower on the side of the page. I knew I should have probably been taking down the notes, but Lydia was sat beside me at the three person desk counter, diligently documenting everything Mr. Harris scribbled on the board, and I knew I'd end up getting them from her later on.

"Mr. Stilinski!" Mr. Harris called out suddenly, gaining everyone's attention - probably for the first time since class had begun, I mused. "If that's your idea of a hushed whisper, you might want to pull the headphones off once in a while. I think you and Mr. McCall would benefit from a little distance, yes?"

"No." Stiles whined instantly, but Mr. Harris took no note of his puppy dog eyes, pointing to different spaces for them both.

"Let me know if the separation anxiety gets to be too much."

Stiles laughed sarcastically, taking a seat behind me whilst Scott moved up front. I smiled to myself, turning my attention back to her book, wondering what she should draw next...

"Hey!" Harley exclaimed suddenly, pointing excitedly out the window,"I think they've found something!"

I glanced at Lydia who nodded and motioned for me to go. We hurried towards the window, where we spotted some paramedics rolling an injured man away from the scene and into an awaiting ambulance.

Out of nowhere, the man darted up, waving his arms frantically and screaming. The whole class screamed, jumping back in fright. I gasped, and felt a tug on my belt buckle, someone tugging me backwards by my jeans.

I hit into a chest gently, and glancing up, I watched as Stiles stared intently ahead, out of the window where the paramedics were calming the man down, his jaw clenched and his eyes troubled.

He removed his hand from the back of my jeans, squeezing my arm softly before walking over to Scott. They shared a few hushed words, and when Stiles returned to my side, I saw that he was struggling to plaster on a smile.

"Whoo, that was something, huh?"

I laughed breathlessly, setting a hand over my chest, willing my heartbeat to calm down,"Definitely something. I guess there's always some excitement around here."

"Welcome to Beacon Hills!" Stiles exclaimed in an attempt at joking. Mr. Harris regained control of the class, but it was safe to say that everyone had their minds on something other than chemistry for the rest of the period.

* * *

Word had spread of the man being found, and by lunch, I had heard so many theories that I had no idea what to believe anymore. I was relieved to find that Lydia's mind was on more materialistic things when we met up with Allison at lunch, and I was happy to lag behind, listening to them babble on about some band or other as we walked into the cafeteria and got our lunches.

"Oh! There are the boys." Lydia announced, and I scanned the cafeteria for Jackson and Danny, only to be surprised when Lydia turned on her heel and headed straight for Stiles and Scott.

"What is she doing?" Allison whispered to me as I gaped.

"I have no idea." I grabbed Allison's arm and pulled her with me,"Let's find out."

"Figure what out?" Lydia was asking as we reached them.

"I - just, uh, homework." Scott covered, sharing a glance with Stiles, who nodded.

"Yeah."

Allison immediately moved to sit beside Scott, on his other side, and Stiles smiled at me as he removed his backpack from the blue plastic chair beside him, pulling it out for me to sit down.

I sat down and caught Lydia smirking. I sent her a confused look as she looked between Stiles and myself before turning to greet Jackson as he and the other lacrosse players took their seats. I felt someone's presence beside me, and turned, thinking it was Danny, only to come face to face with Joey Lowell. My smile was slightly stunned, as he grinned at me. I had spoken to him a few times, each encounter being terribly uncomfortable for me. The guy was a bit of a flirt, a fact I had found out whilst Lydia forced me to wait with her for Jackson after practice one day.

"Hey." I greeted politely. He draped his arm around the back of my chair, and I turned, sitting forwards to avoid his touch.

Danny sent me an apologetic look but I waved him off with a smile. Danny and I had become pretty close over the recent weeks of knowing each other. It was an unspoken rule that we sat beside each other - but that was at our old lunch table.

"So, I hear they're saying it was some type of animal attack." Danny began,"Probably a cougar?"

Jackson shrugged,"I heard mountain lion."

"A cougar is a mountain lion." Lydia informed, and then paused, catching herself. I rolled my eyes, aware of her 'dumb girl' act. Her green eyes landed on me,"Right? You told me that earlier."

"No I didn't." I answered, smirking when she shot me a glare,"You know that one all by yourself."

"Who cares?" Jackson scoffed,"Guy was probably some homeless tweaker who was gonna die anyway."

Stiles, who had been fiddling with his phone, jumped forward,"Actually, I just found out who it is." He turned so his phone was facing all of us,"Check it out."

I bent forward, having to rest my head on Stiles's shoulder in order to see. He didn't seem to mind, though his eyes flashed towards me, a small blush on his cheeks before he turned back to his phone.

_"The Sheriff's department won't speculate on details of the incident, but confirmed the victim, Garrison Meyers, did survive the attack. Meyers was taken to a local hospital where he remains in critical condition."_

The video ended, and everyone sat back, taking in the new information. I sent a shy smile to Stiles as I moved back, my back hitting into Joey's arm.

"I know this guy." Scott spoke up suddenly, drawing attention to himself as he snatched Stiles's phone.

"You do?" Allison frowned.

"Yeah, when I used to take the bus back when I lived with my dad. He was the driver."

I watched as Scott's gaze rose to Stiles, and frowned, glancing between them.

"Can we talk about something slightly more fun, please?" Lydia piped in, rolling her eyes. I shrugged.

"Like...?"

"Like... oh!" She turned to the couple beside her,"Where are we going tomorrow night? Olivia said you and Scott were hanging out."

Allison looked startled, as I sent Lydia a look,"Oh, um, we were thinking of what we were going to do..."

"Well, I'm not sitting home again watching lacrosse videos, so if we are hanging out, we are doing something fun."

"Uh, Lyd?"

"Hanging out?" Scott turned to Allison before I could get Lydia's attention,"Like, all of us?"

Allison shrugged,"Yeah, I guess. I mean, it _could_ be fun."

"You know what else sounds fun?" Jackson began, grabbing a fork off the tray,"Stabbing myself in the face with this fork."

Lydia snatched it away from him, glaring, and then facing me,"You in?"

I paused,"Woah, since when am I involved?"

"Since this whole time?" Lydia clarified in a tone that suggesting I should have known better. I blew out a breath and let out a dramatic whine.

"Do I have a choice?"

"Hm..." She pretended to think,"No. Stiles?"

Stiles almost choked on his water, earning chuckles from some of the lacrosse players. I glared at Joey as he snickered and reached back tp pat him on the back. He smiled at me before looking at Lydia again, shock consuming him.

"Me? Uh, sure, I guess."

"Anyone else?" Lydia asked, glancing around the table.

Joey leaned forward, smirking at me,"I'm in, if Olivia is."

"Perfect, the seven of us will meet up tomorrow!" She clapped, and then gasped, beaming at her own idea,"How about bowling? Jackson, you love bowling!"

"Yeah, when there's competition." He scoffed. I cleared my throat, smirking at him.

"How do you know we're not competition?"

Jackson narrowed his eyes at me, smirking back,"_Please_, you can barely lift more than ten pounds."

"So?" I pouted,"They have balls under ten pounds."

"Yeah," Danny laughed,"For the kids."

I picked up a grape and threw it at him, scowling,"Whose side are you on?"

Allison laughed at our antics as Danny threw it back. She nudged Scott,"You can bowl, right?"

I heard Stiles snort beside me, and tossed him an amused look.

"Sort of..." Scott shuffled awkwardly in place.

Jackson leaned forward challengingly,"Is it sort of, or yes?"

"Yes. In fact, I'm a great bowler."

* * *

"Sorry about Lydia." I said as Scott, Allison, Stiles and I headed out of the school after the final bell,"I had know idea she would invite herself on your date."

"It's fine, Olivia." Allison smiled,"There'll be more dates."

Scott grinned,"There will?"

"Of course." She giggled,"Besides, at least you two will be there. I couldn't handle a night alone with Jackson and Lydia."

"And Joey." I reminded her.

"Well, I'll see you all tomorrow." Scott announced,"I'll be late for work if I don't leave now. Talk to you later?"

Allison nodded, accepting the kiss that Scott gave her. Stiles leaned towards his friend and puckered his lips. Scott rolled his eyes, placing his hand over Stiles's face and pushing him away with a chuckle.

"Yes, I'll talk to you later too." Scott smiled at me,"You too, probably. Bye!"

We each called out our goodbyes to him, and pretty soon, Allison left too, spotting her father. That left Stiles and I. I could see his jeep from where it was parked, and frowned, wondering why he was still standing beside me.

"You don't have to wait with me." I pointed out,"My sister will be here any minute."

"Maybe I _want _to wait with you." Stiles shrugged. I smiled.

We got to discussing the outing scheduled for the next night, with led to Stiles explaining that no, Scott was not in fact a great bowler. I assured him that Jackson wasn't as great as he made himself out to be either, telling him of that Sunday night spent with them and Danny.

I felt someone barrel into me then, arms wrapping around my waist and glanced down, beaming as I wrapped my arm around the little girl's shoulder.

"Lucy! Where's your mommy?"

"In the car." Lucy answered shyly, spotting Stiles. I glanced over and saw Jenna talking on her phone, stopping to wave at me.

I saw Lucy watch Stiles warily and smiled,"Lucy, this is my friend, Stiles. Stiles, this is Lucy. My niece."

Stiles beamed and bent down to her level,"Hi, Lucy." He stuck out his hand for her to shake,"It's nice to meet you."

I had to laugh when Lucy shook his hand, her hand tiny in comparison to his.

"That's a really cool backpack." Stiles pointed to her princess bag,"I had one just like it when I was your age."

Lucy giggled,"You had princesses?"

"Well, no." Stiles chuckled,"I had superheros. Mine wasn't as cool as yours though."

"Aunt Via bought mine for me." Lucy told him, smiling up at me,"It was my present for going to big girl school."

"Big girl school?" Stiles gasped,"Wow!"

I couldn't help but smile, finding their interaction utterly adorable.

"Did you go to big girl school too?" Lucy asked innocently. I snorted, biting back a sarcastic retort. Stiles glanced up at me, smirking.

"Your aunt might say I never left big girl school."

"No he did not." I laughed,"Come on, we should get you home, miss. You have girl scouts tonight, don't you?"

"We're learning how to tie knots!" She grinned, before skipping to Stiles and hugging him,"Bye, Prince Stiles!"

"Bye, Princess Lucy." Stiles beamed back, accepting her hug. Lucy let go of him and returned to my side, taking my hand. I smiled at him.

"See you tomorrow, Prince Stiles."

He bowed dramatically before me,"Until then, Princess Olivia."

I laughed, slugging him in the shoulder as I walked by,"Dork."

"You love it!" He called after us. My smile remained as we made it to the car. I buckled Lucy into her booster seat and climbed into the front. Jenna hung up her phone call, and started the car. She turned to me with an innocent grin.

"Mind running into the shop for me on the way home?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Little Red**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

Jenna found a parking spot outside the grocery store, and I climbed out, taking her shopping list and grabbing my purse. Lucy climbed out of the back, wanting to come with me and held onto my hand until we crossed the road. She excitedly bounded towards the entrance, and I had to smile, finding joy out of how innocent she was. Everything was exciting to her, even a simple trip to the shop.

She headed straight for the toy section and I turned my head to call her and promise we would return and get her something after we got everything else first (what? I was her cool aunt... and her _only _aunt, but whatever). Just as I opened my mouth, I bumped straight into a hard chest, and immediately squeaked out an apology, turning to look at whoever it had been.

"Derek?"

"Olivia, hi. How have you been?"

"Fine, uh..." I scratched the back of my neck awkwardly,"You?"

He rose an eyebrow, a grin on his face as I grimaced,"Right, stupid question."

"Well, being accused of murder isn't fun."

I frowned,"Not usually, no."

He chuckled,"At least it's cleared up now, and we can all move on."

I nodded, finally giving him a smile.

"Scott and Stiles just made a mistake; it happens."

I froze at the mention of my two friends, growing uneasy as Derek continued to smile at me.

"Aunt Via!"

Lucy ran up to me, grasping onto my hand and tugging it to get my attention. I plastered on a smile and glanced down at her.

"Yes, love?"

"Can I get a new dolly? My Eliza doll needs a friend."

"Yeah, we'll go get one after we find what's on the list, okay? I'm going to need your help with that; think you can handle the mission?"

Lucy's sweet face morphed to one of seriousness as she stood up straighter and nodded, looking like a little soldier.

"Alright," I laughed, brushing her hair back affectionately,"It was nice seeing you again, Derek."

"Yeah, totally." He nodded, moving to walk by me towards the exit. He stopped right beside me, his voice deep and quiet close to my ear,"I'll see you around, Olivia."

I glanced over my shoulder at his retreating figure, watching as he turned and gave me a smirk before disappearing outside. Lucy tugged on my sleeve.

"Is he your friend too?"

"Uh, sort of." I answered vaguely, not wanting to go into the explanation of the word 'acquaintance'.

"Is he like Prince Stiles?"

I giggled,"No. He's not. Now come on, your mom is very impatient when she wants to be."

* * *

I learned once I arrived home that the shopping trip was actually for my mother. We were having a family dinner, complete with my uncle Conrad.

I entertained Lucy (and Carter) whilst my mom went about cooking. My sister had a stack of tests that she was correcting over at the desk in the corner, whilst my father and uncle talked about sports. It was all very... cozy.

Carter switched on the TV after a while, flicking through the channels before he stopped on the news report about the bus driver.

"Ooh, that does not look pretty." He winced when a video of the bus popped up in the corner, showing the same scene I had seen that very morning. I grimaced.

"Try seeing it in person."

"I wonder what happened." Jenna mused from the corner, as Conrad and my father strolled into the living room, flopping onto the couch.

"He came into the ER this morning." Conrad explained,"He was pretty torn up. Some sort of animal attack."

"There seem to be a lot of those going on lately." I mentioned casually, standing up and heading into the kitchen to see if my mom needed help.

Ten minutes later, I was stirring sauce. My phone buzzed in my back pocket, a text from Lydia telling me that Allison would be driving us to hers tomorrow at six and we would meet the guys at the alley at seven. Which reminded me...

"Mom? I'm going out tomorrow night."

"You are?"

"Mmhmm, a few friends and I are going bowling."

"You are aware there is a curfew."

"_Yes_, you _are_ aware that we'll be in a public place and I won't be on my own."

My mother nodded slowly,"Who else is going?"

"Uh," I blew my fringe out of my face, the steam hitting my face in puffs of hot air,"Let's see; Me, Lydia, Allison, Scott, Jackson, Joey, and Stiles."

"Jackson is that boy who hurt his shoulder, right?"

"Yes, and he is still complaining."

Mom pulled a face,"And Scott is Melissa's son. Who are Joey and Stiles?"

"Joey Lowell." I said first,"Know him?"

"Lowell... I think your Uncle knows his father. And who is the other boy?"

"Stiles Stilinski."

"Ah, yes, John's son. He's a nice boy." My mother smiled warmly,"Quite the looker."

"That's creepy."

"Not for me!" My mother laughed, throwing her head back,"Let's see; tall, kind, funny, adorable - isn't that exactly your type?"

"Yeah, but Norman Reedus has all those qualities too."

"He's 44!" My mother exclaimed, laughing as I whined and stomped my foot childishly.

"Don't remind me! It could happen..."

"It's not going to happen."

"Why must you depress me?"

* * *

"No!"

Allison held up another top; a short sleeved mess (though I hear some people describe them as tie dye tops) for our inspection. It was six-thirty that Friday evening and, as planned, we were at the Argent household.

Lydia and I shared a horrified look,"No!"

Allison huffed, turning to her closet and rifling through it again. Lydia and I were planning on going in the same clothes we had worn to school. Lydia wore a pair of jeans (I was surprised she owned any), a blue shirt with a dark sweater over it, and simple ballet flats. I wore a pair of skinny denim jeans, a grey tank top with an unbuttoned red plaid shirt over it and a pair of buckled brown ankle boots.

I tied my hair back into a ponytail as Allison pulled out her next choice, a grin on her face.

I shrieked dramatically in horror,"Ah! Burn it with fire!"

"Aw, Olivia, what's wrong with denim overalls?" She asked innocently as I stood up, took them and threw them back into her closet.

"I don't know, everything? As your friend, I think it's detrimental to your health to own overalls. Or at least detrimental to your fashion sense."

Lydia laughed,"I agree. Now, let's see what we're working with."

Allison moved aside to let us work, realizing she really had no choice in the matter anyway. We both decided on a pretty black top. It was short-sleeved, and absolutely perfect. The sheer neckline added a touch of maturity, whilst the sparkly, beaded middle shone brightly when the light hit it at the right angle.

Lydia tossed it towards Allison, who stood up to inspect the choice. I heard footsteps behind me and turned my head to look at Mr. Argent. He had one arm into his jacket when he looked up, his eyes traveling from Allison, then Lydia, then me, before settling back on his daughter.

"Dad."

"Right, sorry; forgot to knock. Hi, girls."

Lydia draped herself across the end of Allison's bed, batting her eyelashes flirtatiously,"Hi, Mr. Argent."

I giggled,"Hey!"

Mr. Argent gave us both a smile before noticing the top Allison held. His eyebrows furrowed,"You're going out?"

"We're going bowling. I told you that."

"You did? You're aware of the curfew, right?"

"Yeah, but -"

"Well, I don't feel comfortable letting you out when there's some sort of animal roaming the streets."

"Dad!"

"Sorry, Allison. You're not allowed to go. You understand that I'm doing this for your own safety."

"I know." Allison nodded.

Mr. Argent excused himself then as Lydia stood up, stopping beside Allison,"Well, _someone _is Daddy's little girl."

"Usually." Allison nodded,"But not tonight."

I glanced towards the door, lowering my voice,"You sneaking out?"

"Get the door?"

I nodded, rushing towards it and pushing it closed softly. Allison headed for the window, pushing the curtain aside and pushing the window up.

Lydia blinked rapidly,"What are you doing?"

"Sneaking out." I answered, smirking as Allison climbed out onto the roof. I expected her to just climb down, but instead, the two of us watched as she did some sort of gymnastic routine for sneaking out. Allison landed on her two feet in a crouched position before standing up, grinning up at us.

"You two coming?"

"Think we'll take the stairs." Lydia nodded, turning away from the window,"That girl is crazy."

"Oh come on, you've never snuck out?"

"Yeah, plenty of times; I've never flipped off a roof."

"My brother has." I shrugged, closing the window and pulling the curtains across.

"On purpose?" Lydia asked, her eyebrows raised as she opened the door.

I pursed my lips, nodding from side to side,"Sure, let's go with that."

* * *

When we arrived, we spotted the four boys standing outside, waiting for us. Lydia flounced up to Jackson and gave him a hello kiss, whilst Allison slid up beside Scott, smiling up at him.

I stopped in front of Joey and Stiles, plastering on a smile as Joey threw his arm around me.

"Olivia! You look amazing as always."

"I look exactly the same as I did in school." I frowned, and then caught Lydia's pointed look. I gave Joey a sweet smile,"I mean, thanks."

"Well?" Lydia asked excitedly,"What are we waiting for? Let's go get signed in!"

The two couples headed in first, and I locked eyes with Stiles before glancing up at Joey,"Hey, you mind signing in for me? I have to make a quick call."

"Of course." Joey grinned, letting go of me and strolling inside. I waited until he disappeared and then shuddered, turning to the boy who leaned against the wall.

"I don't like people touching me. Why does he insist on touching me?"

Stiles chuckled,"I think you should bite him next time he touches you."

I beamed, laughing,"Funny story; I used to do that as a kid."

Stiles laughed again and then moved to head inside,"Oh, right, you wanted to make a phone call."

"No, I didn't." I shrugged,"I just needed an excuse. So, you excited?"

"For what?"

"Climbing Mt. Everest." I deadpanned, and then laughed,"Bowling, silly!"

"Excited to be the seventh wheel? I can hardly wait."

"What do you mean 'seventh wheel'?"

Stiles pulled away from the wall, shoving his hands into the front pockets of his jeans as he absentmindedly kicked a stone,"Lydia and Jackson, Allison and Scott, you and Joey, and then me."

"Me and Joey?" I snorted,"No, don't worry, I have a mirror in my purse so really it'll be Lydia and Jackson, Allison and Scott, _you_ and me, and Joey and his reflection." Stiles chuckled, and I made a face,"Oh, wait, but what if Jackson gets jealous that he doesn't have a mirror?"

"I'm sure he thought ahead and brought one himself." Stiles joked, his grin wide enough to show off his dimples.

"Aw, look at your dimples!"

The smile instantly fell off of his face as he clamped his hands over his flushing cheeks,"No! Don't have 'em."

"Yes you do!" I squealed, moving towards him. I grabbed his hands and pulled them from his face, poking his dimples lightly,"Lookie!"

Suddenly, the door to the community center opened, and Lydia popped her head around,"What are you two still doing out here?"

I stepped back from Stiles,"I had to make a phone call."

Lydia gave me a look,"You didn't even bring your phone."

"Right..." I nodded,"But I didn't say I was making a _phone _call. I'm sending out the bat signal."

Lydia narrowed her eyes, pointing a finger at me,"Joey is waiting for you, so, you leave your sarcasm out here and go flirt with that attractive boy!"

"Ugh!" I groaned, brushing passed her,"You sound like my mother!"

* * *

I was bent over tying my laces when I spotted two shoes in my peripheral vision. I glanced up to see Jackson, who smirked as he held out a large black ball towards me.

"Sixteen pounds. You think you can hold it?"

I scoffed,"Of course I can."

I stood up to take it from him, and he set it in my hands, but I knew by the way his hands were that he was holding off setting it properly in my hands. I narrowed my eyes.

"Let it go."

"You sure?"

I nodded challengingly,"Do it."

Jackson tried not to smirk as he let me take the full weight. My arms immediately dropped and I bent my knees, squeaking.

"You still good?"

I screwed up my face, and nodded, my voice coming out as a soft, baby-ish whimper,"So good."

"Oh, my God." I heard Stiles say, and felt the weight lift off my arms as Stiles picked it up and set it down. Jackson chuckled and walked away from us, taking a seat beside Lydia who smacked his chest for teasing me, though with a smile on her face.

"Here." Stiles called my attention back, and I dropped the glare I sent Jackson, smiling softly as Stiles handed me a shiny pink ball,"It's ten pounds, much easier to use. And it's pink, and I know that's your favorite color."

I tilted my head,"How did you know that?"

"I pay attention."

"Hey," Joey interrupted, coming up and throwing his arm around my shoulder (_again_),"You're up after McCall. Want to go get something to drink?"

Lydia, who had been walking behind me to go test out the weights, nudged me forcefully in the back. _At this point I'm going to have bruises._

I knew what she wanted from me, and to appease her, I nodded and let Joey lead me away from our group.

I got stuck talking to Joey for a long while, because our turns were later on in the game. We chatted absentmindedly, and I found that he wasn't so bad when he wasn't constantly flirting. Or maybe I had just gotten used to it so much I stopped noticing. We watched Lydia go, with Jackson helping her, which made me roll her eyes. I had seen it before, when we and Danny had gone, and knew Lydia was a better bowler than she let on. I spotted Stiles sitting there, and was glad he was at least talking to Scott and Allison. Still, I felt bad, and decided we should head back.

"You're up, McCall." Jackson said as we rejoined the group. I immediately took a seat next to Stiles, nearest the aisle so Joey was forced to sit on Lydia's side adjacent to us.

"You can do it, Scott." Allison beamed as the nervous boy stood. He picked up a green ball, and turned it in his hands as he approached the line, taking a deep breath before rearing his arm back and tossing the ball down the lane.

I grimaced, knowing immediately that the result wasn't going to be good. I was right, and we watched as the ball swerved and went right into the gutter.

It took all of five seconds for Jackson and Joey to burst out laughing, whilst Lydia hid her not so subtle giggling behind her palm.

Allison tensed, shooting a glare at them as she leaned forward in her seat,"Mind shutting up?"

"I'm sorry, I'm just flashing back to the words 'I'm a great bowler'."

Allison shook her head,"Maybe he just needs a warm up."

"Yeah, maybe he just needs the kiddy bumpers." Jackson chimed in, earning a look from me.

"Or _maybe_ some people need to get their ass kicked." I smiled sweetly at the boy as he turned to look at me, scoffing.

"Hey, 'Livia, come back to me when you can carry more than ten pounds."

"Shut up!" I pouted, and felt Stiles squeeze my shoulder in comfort.

"It's okay." He whispered, leaning towards me,"Jackson's just pissy because he's run out of his nancy boy hair gel."

I chuckled, reaching up and placing my hand over his, patting it twice before we both moved away from each other, and Allison turned back to Scott.

"Just, just aim for the middle."

"How about you aim for anything other than the gutter?" Joey suggested, a hint of mocking in his tone.

"Let him concentrate." Stiles shot, and then mumbled under his breath,"Come on, buddy."

I smiled at how badly Stiles wanted Scott to do well, and how sympathetic he was when Scott missed again. Scott returned to his seat, defeated, earning a comforting clap to the shoulder from his best friend.

"Great job McCall - you're a real pro." Jackson snorted, reaching forward to tap in the score.

"Don't worry, we've only just started." Allison squeezed Scott's hand in her own, turning to look at me with a smile,"Olivia, you're up."

"Want me to help you?" Joey asked, wriggling his eyebrows suggestively. I narrowed my eyebrows at him, grimacing.

"Help me toss a ball down a lane? Now, I'm not sure, but I _think_ I got it."

"I warned you to leave your sarcasm outside." Lydia called in a high voice as I stopped in front of our lane. I held the ball in one hand, turning to flash her a smile.

"But do I ever listen?" I took a few steps back from the line, adjusting the ball in the hand I held it in. I took quick steps back to the line, and bent my knees, pulling my elbow back and letting go of the ball.

It hit off the glossy wooden floor, and sailed down the middle, hitting the ball next to the middle one, and knocking down every pin but one.

_Stupid pin..._

* * *

Bowling continued on much as the same, with Scott missing almost every pin all the time. That is, until Allison said something to him and everything changed. It was like something switched in his brain, and suddenly, he was unstoppable.

"That is seriously amazing!" Allison clapped as we were coming to the end of our first game. Scott had taken the lead, with Stiles coming in second, Joey in third and myself in fourth.

Allison grinned at Jackson smugly, enjoying his unease with the fact that Scott was doing miles better than him.

"Jackson, how many strikes is that?"

"It's six..." He grumbled, folding his arms,"In a row."

I smiled and set my hand on Scott's shoulder,"What's gotten into you? And where can I get some?"

"Something just clicked, I guess."

Allison leaned into him, smiling sweetly,"Or maybe it's just natural talent."

"I could use some natural talent." Lydia commented, standing up. She fluttered her eyelashes flirtatiously,"Mind helping me out this time, Scott?"

Scott shifted, a polite, oblivious smile on his face,"Uh, no, you're good. Go for it."

Lydia huffed, rolling her eyes,"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"I'll help." Jackson offered, scooting to the edge of his seat.

Lydia tossed him a withering look,"How about I just try this one on my own?"

I raised my eyebrow, leaning back against Stiles tiredly as Lydia stepped up, perfecting her pose and letting the ball glide down the lane. It hit the center, and we watched as every single pin collapsed under the force.

Lydia whirled around, pumping her fist excitedly. She happily sat down again, and began twirling a strawberry blonde curl around her finger,"I... think I'm getting the hang of it."

Allison gaped,"That was sort of perfect form."

Lydia shot her a look, her eyebrows raising,"Was it?"

Allison turned to look at me, and we shared a roll of the eyes before Allison moved in towards our friend and I moved slightly to hear them.

"Maybe you should stop pretending to suck just for his benefit."

"Hm, trust me..." Lydia hummed,"I do plenty of sucking _just_ for his benefit."

I gagged, holding up my hand,"Fun fact! I could have gone my whole life without hearing that."

* * *

Bowling passed, and we all decided to get something to eat at the adjoining diner. Stiles and I, like the little kids we were, snuck into the arcade instead of getting food, and Stiles dared me to a racing game.

I slid in beside him and grabbed the steering wheel as he started up the game, sending me a cheeky wink as it counted down from three.

"Oh! That's a wall!"

"Olivia, that was my car!"

"_Good_!"

...

"Stiles, what the hell was that?!"

"I sabotaged you."

"You can do that?!"

"Yeah, look."

"Hey! Not cool, Stilinski!"

"Oh, you can dish it out, though."

"Oh, I'm sorry, was that you? Good, that's where I was aiming."

...

As expected, Stiles beat me in the race, a fact that he was supremely happy with judging by his boyish grin.

"How did you even get your license, Wright?"

I flashed him a dazzling smile,"Lip gloss and a low cut top."

Stiles blushed,"Oh. Funny, that's how I passed too."

I giggled, taking his hand and climbing off the car seat. He dropped my hand and extended his arm to me, nodding towards the door.

"Wanna go for a walk?"

I smiled softly, taking his hand,"Sure."

Stiles led me outside, where we took a walk around the building in the cool night air. It felt good to be outside, away from the crowd and the heat. Friendly conversation flowed between Stiles and I, with us ending up in fits of laughter.

"I swear, Coach Finstock had no idea what was coming!"

"Of course not! Why would he think that a student was going to put a live frog in his car?!"

"Where else was I supposed to put it?" Stiles asked, chuckling.

"_Anywhere_ but his car?"

"Heh, we can't all be smart, Olivia."

"No, Stiles, there's smart, and then there's putting live animals in teachers cars."

"I wanted to put it in Jackson's."

I gasped,"And ruin those leather seats?! The horror!"

My eyes rose to the huge neon sign that read 'Beacon Hills Community Center', and under it, there were smaller bright signs that read 'Bowling', 'Ice Skating', 'Air Hockey', 'Arcade', and 'Diner'. I excitedly grabbed Stiles's arm, jumping up and down.

"Oh! We have to play Air Hockey! I can totally beat you in Air Hockey!"

"Deal. A game before we leave."

"You're on." I shook his hand and grinned,"Oh, and I'm definitely coming back here for the ice rink."

"You skate?" He asked as I hopped onto a small, thin wall, and put one foot carefully in front of the other.

"I like to pretend I'm better than I am, but I can stay upright, and that's all that matters. You?"

"I'm decent. We should come back? You doing anything next weekend?"

"Nope, not that I know of." I replied.

"Then it's settled, you and I are going ice skating next weekend."

"And we should ask Scott and Allison if they want to go."

Stiles nodded,"But leave Jackson and Joey at home."

I agreed, adding that Lydia was going into Los Angeles on a shopping trip with her mother, and then wobbled. Stiles's arms shot out, and he slid his arm around my waist, lifting me off the wall and setting me down. I smiled, thanking him, and glancing over his shoulder into the dark distance.

I got movement behind a dumpster, and wrote it off as breeze until I saw a flash of red. It was a blink and you'll miss it moment, but it made my heart skip a frightened beat.

"Stiles, did you see that?"

He tore his eyes from my face and glanced over, searching the darkness,"See what?"

"I-I don't know... maybe I'm seeing things."

"Are you okay?" Stiles asked me in a gentle voice.

I nodded, laughing in embarrassment as I pushed my fringe back,"Yeah. I've been on edge since yesterday. I ran into Derek in the store."

I felt Stiles freeze,"Derek? Hale? Derek Hale?" I nodded in confirmation,"What did he say to you? What did you say to him? Did he hurt you?"

"No..." I shook my head slowly,"Why would he hurt me? Never mind, doesn't matter. We just talked. By the way, he knows it was you and Scott who got him brought in."

"We knew that."

"Well, other than that, that's all he said. Oh, except he did say he'd see me again and he was all creepy, stalker guy about it. But, Stiles, it's fine, you can relax. It was just a coincidence. Beacon Hills isn't that big, we're bound to run into people."

"Right," Stiles nodded,"It was just a coincidence. Still, Derek's not good news."

"Aw, you worried about me?" I teased, poking him in the stomach,"Don't be. Although, it was weird. He was all smiley, and he was leaving the store with nothing. Who goes grocery shopping and doesn't buy anything?"

Stiles opened his mouth to say something, though it fell on deaf ears as I heard Jackson call out for me. Our group were outside, signalling that it was time to go.

I bid Stiles goodnight as we rejoined our friends, hugging him, Scott, Allison and even Joey goodbye before climbing into the back of Jackson's car.

I leaned back in the seat, letting my head loll to one side as I yawned. I blinked tiredly, staring up at the moon. Something flashed by the car, and I jumped, sitting up straighter as I searched the street that zoomed by for anything.

Jackson glanced at me in the rear view mirror, raising an eyebrow,"You okay back there?"

"Fine." I nodded, sinking back down into the seat,"I'm just... fine."

* * *

Stiles haphazardly parked his jeep at the curb, tumbling out of it and rushing towards side of the McCall house. He located his tree, grabbed onto the lowest branch and hauled his body up, climbing up and swinging his body in through Scott's open window. He tumbled onto the bed, blowing out a breath at the exertion and wondering why he had never agreed to go to those gymnastic classes his mother had tried to coerce him into. It would have made sneaking into his best friend's house a whole lot easier.

Just as he sat up, a bat came swinging at his head, stopping at the last second before impact. The two of them screamed in fright at the sight of the other person. Dressed in her pajamas, Mrs. McCall faltered, lowering her weapon as she stared at him in shock.

"Stiles! What the hell are you doing here?!"

"What am I doing?! Do either of you even play baseball?!"

Scott rushed into his bedroom then, flipping on the light,"What happened, I heard screaming?!"

"Can you please tell your friends to use the front door?"

"But we lock the front door, he wouldn't be able to get in."

Mrs. McCall sighed,"Yes, _exactly_. Didn't you two spend the entire day together?" She glanced at Stiles,"And, by the way, do either of you even care that there is a police enforced curfew?"

"No." The two of them replied in unison, making Mrs. McCall scoff in disbelief.

"No..." She echoed in a breath,"Alright then, you know what, that's more than enough parenting from me for one night so... goodnight."

Mrs. McCall walked out, and Scott closed the door behind her, grabbing the computer chair and wheeling it towards his bed. He caught Stiles's expression, and frowned in concern, taking a seat.

"What? What's wrong?"

"My dad left for the hospital fifteen minutes ago - it's the bus driver." Stiles sighed,"They said he 'succumbed to his wounds'."

Scott looked bewildered,"Succumbed?"

"Scott... he's dead."

"What?"

"Yeah. And that's not our only problem. Olivia talked to Derek yesterday."

Scott paled,"What? Where?"

"At the grocery store."

"Okay, well... maybe he was shopping?"

"Yeah, we thought so too until Olivia found it weird that he didn't buy anything."

"So why was he there? You think he was looking for her. Why would he look for Olivia? She's harmless!"

"I don't know. Maybe it was a coincidence, but I don't like it."

"Me neither." Scott nodded, and then paused,"I have to go talk to him..."

* * *

**Oh! Chapter 7! And it's up earlier than ever! I hope you enjoyed it, especially the Stiles/Olivia interaction in this chapter.**

**Let me know what you think, and let me know what I should do with the whole Joey/Olivia/Stiles thing. **

**Until next time, friends!**

**- Megan.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Little Red**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**So, so, so, so, super sorry about the wait. My laptop was just recently returned to me, all shiny and new thanks to my sister's boyfriend because I literally suck when it comes technology, and screwed it up so it had to be completely wiped, and I moved all my important files to a USB, only to then realize I had forgotten to add all of my notes for this chapter. Yeah, I know... I suck.**

**But, anyway, here it is finally, and the next chapter will be up a lot faster than this was. _Oi... war flashbacks..._**

* * *

Sunday night in the Wright household was quiet. I had finished up all of my homework, had dinner and showered for the next day by the time it reached ten o'clock.

Yawning tiredly from the day's excursions, I wanted nothing more than to climb into bed and sleep. I ran a hand through my red hair as I cursed, the pile of books in my arms that were meant to drop into my school bag, instead dropping to the floor.

I bent down to gather the stray, loose pages that I had stuffed into my books, too lazy to fetch a folder for them, and reached under the bed.

A series of loud bangs cut through the silence, frightening me. I jumped, hitting my head off the bed and cursing again, this time loudly.

I held a hand to the back of her head, grimacing in pain as I made my way to the window, pulling aside the curtain and looking out.

The suburban street below me was quiet, and I wondered if maybe someone had set off fireworks, or maybe it had been my imagination.

Moving away from the window and letting the curtain fall back, I headed downstairs, finding my parents in the living room, watching a movie.

I swung my body around the door frame, holding onto it as I poked my head around the door.

"Hey, did either of you hear those bangs?"

My mother glanced over the back of the couch, frowning,"What bangs?"

"I don't know. Sounded like gunshots or fireworks or something."

"Well, there were gunshots in the programme we were just watching." My dad shrugged,"Maybe it was that."

I nodded, smiling and shaking my head at my own silliness,"Probably was. Okay, let's all pretend, for her benefit, that Olivia didn't have a moment there. Goodnight, family!"

I rolled my eyes at myself, hearing my parents chuckling as I returned to my bedroom, shutting the door behind myself. I approached my bed and stopped, biting my bottom lip.

My gaze went to the window and I narrowed my eyes at it, strolling over and pulling the curtain back quickly.

Nope. Nothing.

Shrugging it all off, I closed the curtain back and practically fell into my bed, switching on my laptop so I could watch the latest episode of The Walking Dead before I went to sleep.

* * *

It was whilst I was on my way to school that I got the text from Allison that she requested a lift. I was in the middle of choosing my breakfast from the small cafe when I got her message and replied, asking if she wanted anything.

I picked up my coffee and hers, as well as her blueberry muffin and my chocolate chip one. I picked up a latte for Lydia while I was at it, and smiled in thanks as I took the take away bag that the older woman behind the counter handed me. I planted my bag on the passenger seat to keep the goods from falling onto my floor as I drove to Allison's and smiled, handing Allison her coffee and cake as she climbed into my car.

"Thank you!" The tall girl beamed, taking a sip of her coffee,"Good morning; you look sleepy."

I nodded, taking a gulp of my own coffee, thankful it had cooled down,"Didn't sleep well."

"Nightmare?"

"I was watching Walking Dead..." I admitted guiltily, earning a look of motherly disapproval.

"Well, I wonder why."

"It never bothers me, usually."

Allison nodded then too,"You're hard to scare. Wonder what changed."

I opened my mouth to reply, and got cut off by a woman's voice as it called out to us from Allison's house.

"Allison! You forgot this!" The blonde woman called, jogging up to my car. Allison beamed as she approached, reaching out to take the textbook from her.

"Thanks."

The woman turned to smile at me, her green eyes wicked and reminding me of a cat. I smiled shyly back.

"You must be Olivia, right?" I nodded, shaking the hand that she reached out towards me,"I'm Kate, Allison's aunt."

Allison grinned,"She got in late last night. She's my dad's sister."

"It's nice to meet you." I smiled politely,"Allison told me all about you."

"You, too. So happy to finally meet the best friend. Now I just have to meet the boyfriend." Kate teased, poking Allison's shoulder with a smirk.

I laughed,"Meeting the family. Allison, you didn't tell me you were that serious. Should I be expecting a happy announcement by the end of the week?"

Kate snorted as Allison blushed,"Hey! Maybe I'll get some information about this boy out of you since Allison was no fun this morning."

I grinned, leaning forward,"His name is Scott McCall, he's sixteen, he's on the lacrosse team, he's got these huge brown, puppy-dog eyes, and he's so completely smitten with Allison it's kind of embarrassing to watch sometimes."

Allison threw me a half-hearted glare,"I'd hit if you weren't holding hot coffee."

Kate laughed,"Well, you girls better get your asses to school before you're late. But Olivia, don't be a stranger." Kate wagged her finger in my direction,"I like you."

Kate returned to the house, waving over her shoulder, and I started up the car, setting my coffee down in a safe and secure spot. Allison's hand.

My friend then reached over with her elbow and nudged me in the side. I yelped, sending her an incredulous look.

She smirked at me,"You're not holding hot coffee anymore."

"Thanks for sparing me the burns." I drawled sarcastically, rubbing my side with my hand,"Damn you have major swing!"

* * *

The drive to school was short, but I made Allison suffer by continuously whining, making her feel bad about hitting me when really, it didn't hurt all that much.

She copped onto my teasing when Lydia decided to smack me in the same side with her purse and I barely flinched, though I did throw the hand that wasn't handing Lydia her coffee into the air.

"Why is everyone hitting me?!"

"Because!" Lydia exclaimed,"Joey just asked me if you had lost your phone or something because you didn't reply to him all weekend."

"Oh! That's who that was!" I shrugged,"I didn't recognize the number."

Lydia gave me a disbelieving look,"I saved his number in your phone."

"Yeah, you did... then I deleted it. Look, I'm just not interested. Dating isn't something I do. Now, getting emotionally invested in fictional characters _is_ what I do."

Allison chortled,"What happened to Daryl this time?"

"Don't wanna talk about it."

Lydia rolled her eyes,"Joey really likes you."

"But _I_ don't like_ him_."

"But you haven't given him a chance."

"But you... you're right. Damn it!" I rolled my eyes, folding my arms,"Fine, I'll give him a chance."

"That means you have to go on one date with him." Lydia told me, and I grimaced.

"I've been on a date with him."

"Yeah, with all of us, and you spent most of it with Stiles Stilinski. Look, Joey's looking for you, so if he asks you out, please say yes."

I blinked back at Lydia and eventually caved under the weight of her gaze,"Fine." I turned on my heel and began walking towards the school, away from my friends. I then turned, walking backwards and pointing at them,"But if he tries anything, I won't be responsible for his broken nose."

As assumed, Joey found me the second I stepped through the door. I played it off that I had lost my phone, only to find it the night before, and graciously accepted his offer to go see a movie on Wednesday night.

"I'll check what's on and text you, 'kay?" Joey asked, smiling at me as we reached my locker. I spotted Stiles walking towards us and smiled at Joey.

"Yeah, that's fine. I'll see you later, yeah?"

Joey nodded, and bent down to quickly kiss my cheek before walking off, bumping his shoulder against Stiles's as he passed. I tried to hide my grimace as I turned and opened my locker.

"Well, aren't you too cozy?" I heard Stiles's teasing voice called as he stopped beside me.

"One of us seems to think so." I nodded, and then added,"We're going out Wednesday."

I immediately frowned; why had I told him that? Shaking my head, I focused on locating the books I would need, not noticing how Stiles shifted uncomfortably against the locker.

"Oh, that's... new."

"Mmhmm..."

Stiles was silent for a moment, and I closed my locker, raising an eyebrow,"So, did you want to talk to me about something?"

His wide eyes snapped up to mine, and he cleared his throat,"Uh, y-yeah. You seen Scott?"

"No, sorry."

"He's probably already in class." Stiles smiled at me then,"Walk you?"

I smirked,"We're both heading that way anyway."

"I know, I just thought we could head there together."

I giggled as he blushed, shaking my head,"Fine."

"So..." Stiles began as we took off down the hall,"You and Joey, huh?"

I nodded,"Guess so."

"That's... that's _great._ Speaking of great things, you haven't heard any more from _Derek_, have you?"

"No." I frowned,"Why? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all. Oh, look, class!"

Stiles placed his hands on my shoulders before I could speak and guided me into the class, running off towards his seat. I rolled my eyes at the boy's behavior and made my way to my own seat, immediately getting wrapped into a conversation with the girl in front of me. Taylor, was her name.

* * *

Stiles scratched the back of his neck as he fiddled with the last ring on the edge of his notepad. He wasn't sure why he had headed to Olivia's locker that morning, it had just seemed like something he should do. And why he was uncomfortable knowing Olivia was going out with Joey on Wednesday night? Stiles had no clue.

Olivia was his friend, and Joey certainly was not. Maybe that was it. Joey didn't have the greatest reputation with girls. It was just friendly concern, that was all. Heck, Stiles would bet that if Scott knew, he'd be just as concerned.

Getting an idea, Stiles's left eyebrow slowly rose, his lips pursing as he leaned forward and tapped his friend's shoulder.

"Hey, guess what I heard?"

Scott turned in his seat,"What?"

"Olivia and Joey are going out."

Scott grimaced,"Really? Olivia with Joey? Thought she didn't like him."

Stiles huffed,"Didn't we all?"

Scott pursed his lips before shrugging and turning back around. Stiles gaped.

"Woah, wait, that doesn't bother you?"

"No...? Why would it?"

"Because it's _Joey _and _Olivia. _Weren't you two friends when you were little?"

"Well yeah. I mean, obviously, I'm not happy she's with _Joey_ but it's her life. She's too smart to fall for his moves anyway. Why? Does it bother _you_?"

"No." Stiles said quickly,"Why should I care? I don't care."

Scott raised an eyebrow but nodded, shaking his head,"Okay... Derek's not the alpha, by the way."

Stiles's head snapped up, and he jolted forward in his seat,"What?!"

"He told me."

Stiles gaped,"And you decided to leave it out until now?! Dude!" Stiles paused and took a deep breath,"Okay, if Derek isn't the alpha, if he's not the one who bit you, then who did?"

Scott hesitated, opening his mouth and closing it again,"I... I don't know."

Stiles sighed, flopping back into his chair,"Did the alpha kill the bus driver?"

"Don't know."

Stiles grunted,"Does Allison's dad know about the -?"

Scott groaned, whipping around to face his best friend,"I don't know!"

The whole class fell silent, eyes turning to focus on the two boys. Scott and Stiles looked around themselves and then ducked their heads down as their teacher came over. It was then they realized that they were getting their tests back. Stiles took his with a nervous smile, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw the giant red A in the corner of the page. He glanced up and over Scott's shoulder, spotting the D- on his best friend's test. Stiles leaned forward again.

"Dude, you need to study more."

Scott huffed and tapped his fingers against the edge of the desk, a sure sign that he was upset and angry.

"That was a joke..." Stiles added, and then sighed,"Scott, it's one test, you're gonna make it up. Do you want help studying?"

Scott took a deep breath and shook his head,"No, I'm studying with Allison after school today."

Stiles grinned, clapping Scott's shoulder,"That's my boy!"

Scott blushed,"We're just studying."

"Uh, no you're not."

"I'm not?"

Stiles scoffed,"Not if I'm forced to live vicariously through you, you're not. If you go to her house today and squander that colossal opportunity, I swear, I swear to God, I'll have you de-balled."

"Okay! Just... stop with the questions, 'kay?"

Stiles held up his hands in surrender, sliding back into his chair,"Done. No more questions... no more talk about the alpha, or Derek - especially Derek... who still scares me."

* * *

"I just hope he gets along with Kate..."

I frowned in confusion, taking a seat across from Allison at an empty table, away from the lacrosse team who we usually sat with,"Why wouldn't he?"

"She can be a bit... blunt. She likes to tease, and Scott's... Scott's shy. I just don't want her to scare him off. My dad's already got that covered."

I laughed,"I think Scott can handle being teased. His best friend is Stiles, remember? Besides, if your father hasn't managed to sent Scott packing, I doubt your aunt will."

"I guess... I just hope nobody is home for a little while. He's coming over right after school."

Lydia appeared, setting her tray beside mine and taking a seat,"Who's coming over?"

I rolled my head towards her,"Allison and Scott are having a play-date."

Allison rolled her eyes, pointing her fork at me,"We're just studying together."

Lydia snorted, drawing our attention again,"Just studying never ends with 'just studying'. It's like... getting into a hot-tub. Somebody eventually cops a feel."

I took a sip from my water bottle, making a noise of agreement,"Same goes for sharing a blanket when you two are 'just watching a movie'."

Lydia's eyes widened as she nodded assuredly,"Mmhmm."

Allison's expression was the perfect portrayal of a deer caught in the headlights,"Wait, so, what are you saying?"

"We're just saying..." Lydia shrugged,"Make sure he covers up."

I coughed on my drink,"They've been dating for like, two weeks!"

"So?"

"Too soon in the relationship."

Allison was looking wildly between us,"Too soon in the relationship for what?"

Lydia laughed,"Hello, Snow White! We're talking about a condom."

"Are you kidding?" Allison blushed,"Two weeks! Olivia's right, too soon."

"Oh, don't be a total prude." Lydia rolled her green eyes,"Give him a little taste."

"Well, I-I mean..." Allison bit her lip, folding her arms,"How much is a little taste?"

"Oh, God, you really like him, don't you?"

I snorted,"Where have _you _been?"

Allison shot me a look before turning back to Lydia,"Well, it's just... he's different. When I first moved here, I had a plan - no boys until college. I just moved too much, but... then I met him, and... he was different." She giggled in embarrassment,"I don't know, I can't explain it."

"I can." Lydia threw in, tossing her hair over one shoulder,"It's your brain flooding with phenylalanine."

Allison searched her brain and then turned to me. I held up my hands,"Oh, no, don't look at me; I don't even know how to spell that."

Lydia smiled in amusement at me, before taking a deep breath and surveying Allison, sizing her up for something unknown to us. Whatever it was, I immediately felt bad for the brunette.

"I'll tell you what to do; when's he coming over?"

"Right after school." Allison replied after a moment of hesitation.

"Uh, uh..." Lydia nodded thoughtfully, her musing quickly followed by the bell that told us all that the fun was over. Lydia stood up, beckoning for Allison to follow,"Come on, you and I have a free. We'll discuss it then. Olivia, what do you have now?"

I pursed my lips,"Well, I _have_ history, but the real question is; will I actually _go_ to it?"

Allison raised an eyebrow,"And the answer is?"

I narrowed my eyes in thought before grinning at my two best friends,"Nope! Think I'll fake sick. Laters!"

* * *

_Headache? No, too weak._

_Stomach ache? No, too over-used._

_Girl cramps?..._

A smirk spread across my face then, a plan formulating in my head. It disappeared the minute I saw Jackson walking down the almost empty hall, a grimace on his face and his hand firmly clamped over his neck.

He spotted me and naturally made his way over.

I nodded towards his neck,"What's up with you?"

"McCall's drug dealer is obviously sampling the product, that's what." He snapped.

I ignored it, and frowned,"What? His drug dealer? What are you talking about?"

"McCall had to get his juice from somewhere."

"Yeah, the grocery store, like everyone else." I nodded, barely able to contain my smirk when his eye twitched with irritation. I rolled my eyes,"Okay, fine, start from the start."

"I was at my locker and this dude came up to me, said he was looking for McCall - "

"What did he look like?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Tall, dark hair, blue eyes. Dude was _not _well. He was all pale and clammy. Must have been a bad trip. Leather jacket, I don't know."

I frowned, searching my brain for a match to the description. The only person I could think of was Derek...

Jackson rubbed at his neck again and groaned out in pain. I reached out.

"No, don't touch it!" Jackson grumbled, pulling back from me. I yanked his hand away from his neck, sending him a look,"Don't be a baby."

Jackson huffed childishly, but made no move to pull away when I grabbed him and pulled him down to eye-level so I could look at his neck. Three deep slashes were dotted side by side on his flesh, blood - both dry and fresh - pouring out. The blood flow wasn't too bad, but his hand did have blood on the palm of it.

"He did this to you?"

"Grabbed me." Jackson nodded,"Ow, by the way."

I rolled my eyes and grabbed his arm, pulling him into the boy's bathroom. It was empty, which was good for me. Probably the only good thing for me considering I was in the _boy's _bathroom.

"Take off your jacket." I ordered, going into the nearest stall and grabbing tissue. I separated them into two piles, and wet one pile with hot water. I then dabbed around the wound, cleaned it and patted it dry.

"You should probably go to the nurse." I advised,"At least get something to cover it so it doesn't get infected."

"It's just a scratch." Jackson shrugged,"I'll be fine."

"If you say so..." I called in a sing-song tone of voice, making my way towards the door.

"Hey Olivia?"

I turned, bracing myself for a sarcastic comment. Instead, Jackson gave me a smile.

"Thanks."

* * *

I was strolling lazily down the hallway, having successfully talked and acted my way out of class when I bumped into him.

The man standing before me was the definition of sick. His complexion was paler than pale, his face gaunt and his cheeks hollow. He seemed unsteady on his feet, swaying back and forth so much that I actually put my hand out to grab his arm.

Derek's pained eyes slowly trailed from his arm, up mine, and up to my face.

"Olivia..."

"Derek? What are you doing here, at school?"

"Looking for Scott. Have you seen him?"

"Well yeah, I know you're looking for Scott. I ran into Jackson."

"Jackson..." He repeated,"That lacrosse kid?"

"Yeah." I nodded,"He's fine, by the way. What happened earlier? Did kitty get too gratuitous with his claws?"

Clearly, Derek didn't have much time for my questions as he shook his head, placing a heavy hand on my shoulder and squeezing.

"Where is Scott, Olivia?"

"I don't know." I scoffed, forcefully pushing his hand off my shoulder. He swayed back, and I grabbed his arm again,"Okay, let's sit you down before you fall down, okay? Alright."

I led Derek into the nearest locker room, sitting him down on a bench, and adjusting him so he was slumped against the mesh gate between the benches. I held my hands up, motioning for him to stay where he was and spoke as I headed for the door.

"I'll go get Stiles. He'll be able to find Scott."

"Stilinski? _Great..._"

I rolled my eyes and slipped back out into the hallway. I jogged down the hall towards the class I had just weasled my way out of and slipped up to the window in the door. I snuck a glance towards the teacher, making sure his eyes were elsewhere before ducking down and pulling out my phone.

_Door - Olivia_

I rose up again, watching as Stiles checked the message and then frowned, looking towards me. He frowned and I rose a finger to my lips, before waving my hand towards myself. I ducked down again, and could hear the teacher address Stiles.

"Yes, Mr. Stilinski, you can go to the bathroom."

I covered my giggle with my hand, and slid out of the way as the door opened and Stiles slipped out.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Fine."

He frowned,"I thought you weren't feeling well..." I grinned at him, batting my eyelashes,"Oh, you sneaky little minx! And here I thought you didn't have a delinquent bone in your body."

I winked,"There's a lot of things you don't know about me, Stilinski. Anyway, we have a problem."

"I've heard that before..." He sighed, following as I began walking back towards the locker room,"What's wrong?"

"It's Derek."

"What?! What about Derek? Is he bothering you? Did he do something?"

"No, Stiles, he's right..." I opened the door to the locker room, and froze,"... here."

Stiles hurried up, landing behind me, his body pressed against mine as our eyes swept the locker room.

It was empty.

Derek was gone.

* * *

**Phew! There it is! This actually took me, like, four hours to write, which is odd for me. Oh well, I hope you enjoyed. Let me know what you think of this chapter, thanks to everyone who reviewed/favorited and/or followed, and I'll see you next chapter!**

**Bye, friends!**  
**- Megan.**


End file.
